Denver (DEN) – Sacramento (SMF)
- Distance
- 1,463 km
- 909 mi · 790 nm
- Flight time
- 2 h 30 min / 2 h 17 min
- Average gate to gate: DEN → SMF / back
- Time difference
- 1 h
- CO2 per passenger
- 184 kg
- One way, economy, incl. RF (109 kg CO2 only)
- Passengers / year
- 1,071,397
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026 · +0.3%
- Flights / week
- 148
- Both directions, average
- Seats filled
- 83%
- 1,284,556 seats a year
- Airlines nonstop
- 3
- UA, WN, F9
Traffic: U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service), Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Distance: WGS-84 ellipsoid. CO2: UK DESNZ 2026 factors. Sources
The way there
- Heading from DEN
- 270°
- Heading from SMF
- 80°
- Halfway point
- 39.59, -113.20
- Great-circle km
- 1,460 km (sphere, for EU261)
- In the air DEN → SMF
- 2 h 7 min
- In the air SMF → DEN
- 1 h 56 min
- Clocks
- Sacramento is 1 h behind Denver
The estimate for a route without real times is 2 h 30 min; how it is worked out is on Sources.
Show as a table
| Month | Passengers |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 94,016 |
| Sep 2025 | 93,778 |
| Oct 2025 | 97,496 |
| Nov 2025 | 86,612 |
| Dec 2025 | 84,777 |
| Jan 2026 | 69,751 |
| Feb 2026 | 68,231 |
| Mar 2026 | 83,320 |
| Apr 2026 | 82,144 |
| May 2026 | 92,001 |
| Jun 2026 | 109,267 |
| Jul 2026 | 110,004 |
Show as a table
| Month | Flights |
|---|---|
| Aug 2025 | 694 |
| Sep 2025 | 686 |
| Oct 2025 | 672 |
| Nov 2025 | 635 |
| Dec 2025 | 605 |
| Jan 2026 | 526 |
| Feb 2026 | 518 |
| Mar 2026 | 581 |
| Apr 2026 | 580 |
| May 2026 | 641 |
| Jun 2026 | 750 |
| Jul 2026 | 784 |
Airlines flying DEN–SMF nonstop
| Airline | Flights / week | Share of passengers |
|---|---|---|
| UAUnited Air Lines | 69 | 48% |
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 72 | 47% |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 7.0 | 6% |
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Airlines with at least one flight a month. U.S. DOT, Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Segment (all carriers, scheduled service). Sources
Aircraft on this route
- Boeing 737-800 · 1,995 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 800 · 1,683 flights
- Boeing 737-700/700LR/Max 7 · 1,333 flights
- Boeing 737-900ER · 923 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-100/200 · 586 flights
- Airbus Industrie A321-200n · 444 flights
- Boeing B737 Max 900 · 301 flights
- Airbus Industrie A320-200n · 243 flights
Also carried: 240 tonnes of freight and 0 tonnes of mail a year (passenger and cargo flights).
Punctuality
- On time
- 78.6%
- Arrived within 15 min of schedule
- Average delay
- 13 min
- Late arrivals count, early ones as 0
- Cancelled
- 0.3%
- Flights counted
- 7,695
- Aug 2025 – Jul 2026
| Airline | On time | Average delay |
|---|---|---|
| WNSouthwest Airlines | 71.8% | 16 min |
| UAUnited Air Lines | 85.3% | 10 min |
| F9Frontier Airlines | 81.8% | 14 min |
Delay minutes by cause: airline 32% · aircraft arriving late 51% · air traffic system 16% · weather 2% · security 0%.
Both directions, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. BTS Reporting Carrier On-Time Performance (US domestic flights of the larger US airlines). Sources
What passengers paid
- Average fare, Q1 2026
- $236
- One way, all cabins
- Average over a year
- $225
- Q3 2025 – Q1 2026
- Largest airline
- United Air Lines
- 43% of passengers · $259
- Lowest-fare airline
- Frontier Airlines
- 12% of passengers · $135
History, not a price to book: what the average passenger paid per one-way trip in each quarter (Q3 2025 $215 · Q4 2025 $228 · Q1 2026 $236).
U.S. DOT Consumer Airfare Report, Table 1a (airline ticket sample, US domestic airport pairs). Sources
Delay compensation (EU261 / UK261)
Measured by great-circle distance: 1,460 km.
Neither EU261 nor UK261 covers this route: it neither starts nor ends in the EU, EEA, Switzerland or the UK. Other countries have their own rules (for example Canada's APPR or Brazil's ANAC rules).
Also owed for a cancellation with less than 14 days' notice or denied boarding. Not owed for extraordinary circumstances. On a connection, the distance to the final destination counts. From 23 October 2027 the EU's Regulation 2026/2202 applies; it keeps these amounts (what changes in 2027). Information, not legal advice.
Every airport pair between Denver and Sacramento
Kilometres. Linked numbers have a page of their own. All Denver airports