Denver International (KDEN)

Denver International sits on the high plains at more than five thousand feet, and it plays unlike any other field in VectorHeavy. Six runways span the airport: four north-south parallels plus two east-west, and 16R/34L is the longest runway at any public-use airport in the United States, at sixteen thousand feet.

Denver runs north and south flows on the parallel N/S bank, with the east-west pair as crosswind. Because the field elevation is so high, every altitude on the scope is lifted: arrivals spawn in the mid-teens and the menu works an eight-to-seventeen-thousand band instead of the sea-level two-to-twelve you see elsewhere. United dominates, with Southwest and Frontier close behind. The map is deliberately dry, honest to the water-poor high plains, with the South Platte the only real feature.

This is the Heavy tier: a busy six-runway hub with a high cap and hot cadence. The lifted altitude band makes it a distinct kind of workload.

Runway layout