By HNTB Corporation, Economic Development Research Group and Kramer Aerotek, for Colorado DOT Division of Aeronautics, 2003  

Across the state of Colorado, public use airports play a wide range of roles in supporting community accessibility and economic development. They range from Denver International Airport, currently 10th busiest in the world, to small general aviation airports serving Colorado's eastern plains, as well as a variety of small commercial airports serving seasonal recreation at mountain resorts. Each contributes to local, regional and statewide economic growth and health roles in a different way.

To quantify and publicize these economic roles of Colorado's airports, the Colorado DOT Division of Aeronautics commissioned a study of the economic impact of all public-use airports in the state. The study was conducted by a team of HNTB Corp., Economic Development Research (EDR) Group and Kramer Aerotek.

The economic impact analysis by EDR Group included: analysis of detailed surveys of airport managers and tenants, as well as other aviation-related industries; broad surveys of commercial and industrial businesses that depend on local air service for their Colorado operations; visitor surveys and analysis of tourism-related airport dependence in Colorado; separate, detailed economic impact analysis models for every county in Colorado; and evaluation of how economic impacts have changed since the prior 1998 study, distinguishing fundamental changes in airport roles from differences due to business cycles and variation in analysis methodologies.

Full report from Colorado DOT Airport Economic Impact web page 

Summary brochure Colorado DOT (2.6 MB, pdf)

Report Author/contractor acknowledgements from Colorado DOT