Denver International Airport ranked as one of the fastest-growing major airports in the world last year and regained its status as the fifth busiest in the U.S.

DIA, which compiled traffic numbers for the world's 30 busiest airports, said its 9.1 percent spike in passengers last year came in just behind Beijing and Jakarta. For the year, it tied with Hong Kong International Airport for the third-highest increase.

DIA experienced a record year in passenger traffic in 2006, partly attributed to a decrease in airfares tied to the arrival of Southwest Airlines. Frontier and United also added new flights and routes.

"I think our tremendous growth can be attributed to new carriers and the market stimulation they created," Turner West, DIA's manager, said.

The airport used information provided by the Airports Council International and its own research in the analysis. The data include arriving, departing and connecting passengers.

In 2005, DIA had slipped to the sixth-busiest airport in the country and the 11th in the world, even though its passenger traffic grew that year.

But in 2006, according to DIA's analysis, it moved back to No. 5 in the U.S. and 10th worldwide.

Denver is one of only a handful of cities with three major players aggressively duking it out for market share. United is the largest carrier at DIA - controlling about 55 percent of the market share - while Frontier is second with more than 20 percent.

Although Southwest accounts for just under 5 percent of DIA's passenger traffic, it has been growing rapidly since it arrived here in January 2006.

On the move

• Fastest-growing major airports worldwide based on passenger traffic:

Beijing   18.7 percent

Jakarta*   12 percent

Denver   9.1 percent

Hong Kong   9.1 percent

Bangkok*   8.6 percent*Through November 2006 Sources: Dia, Airport Council International

walshc@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2744