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Rankings / Routes / Denver to Minneapolis

2025 flights

Denver to Minneapolis

Between Denver and Minneapolis, 1.7 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 12 thousand flights of about 680 miles and 1.6 hours in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 101 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 75 kg on Frontier Airlines to 112 kg on United Airlines.

  • 101 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 680 milesabout 1.6 hours in the air
  • 1.7 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 84%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Denver and Minneapolis in 2025.0255075100Frontier Airlines75 kgSun Country Airlines88 kgSouthwest Airlines94 kgDelta Air Lines108 kgUnited Airlines112 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Denver and Minneapolis in 2025.050100Frontier Airlines75 kgSun Country Airlines88 kgSouthwest Airlines94 kgDelta Air Lines108 kgUnited Airlines112 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
Denver to Minneapolis by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
Delta Air Lines31%3.6Airbus A321, Boeing 737-900ER17983%108
Southwest Airlines28%3.5Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-80016883%94
United Airlines23%3.0Boeing 737-800, Airbus A320-20015884%112
Frontier Airlines11%1.1Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo20485%75
Sun Country Airlines6%0.7Boeing 737-80018686%88

What explains the differences

It's number 87 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 44 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.15 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 680 miles in this set comes out at about 112 kg, so this one is 10.0% below it.

The airlines on this route differ by 48% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 1,339 gallons per flight and 173 passengers on each, and United Airlines 1,506 gallons and 132 passengers. Fuel burned per flight explains about 30% of the gap and the number of passengers on each flight the other 70%. Frontier Airlines flew 85% full here against 84% for United Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Boeing 737-800.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.129 kg per passenger-mile) would give 88 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 15% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 1.7 million passengers on 12 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 1.7 million, up 1%, on 12 thousand flights, up 0%. The average flight had 163 seats then and 170 now, and 87% of them were filled against 84%.

CO2 per passenger was 101 kg in 2019 and 101 kg in 2025, unchanged. Fuel burned per flight was up 0.6% (1,463 gallons to 1,472) and passengers per flight were up 0.4% (142 to 142). The distance flown was about the same (680 miles then, 680 now).

Delta Air Lines led in both years, with 35% of passengers in 2019 and 31% in 2025. Southwest Airlines gained the most share, 23% to 28%. Delta Air Lines lost the most, 35% to 31%. Spirit Airlines no longer reaches 1% of passengers, having had 4% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Southwest Airlines went from 107 kg to 94 kg per passenger (148 seats per flight to 168, main aircraft Boeing 737-700 then and Boeing 737 MAX 8 now); Delta Air Lines went from 101 kg to 108 kg per passenger (174 seats per flight to 179, main aircraft Boeing 737-900ER then and Airbus A321 now).

Denver to Minneapolis, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)1,7221,735
Flights (thousands)12.212.2
Seats filled87%84%
Gallons of fuel per flight1,4631,472
kg CO2 per passenger101101
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Denver to Minneapolis for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.0255075100Delta Air Lines 2019101 kgDelta Air Lines 2025108 kgSouthwest Airlines 2019107 kgSouthwest Airlines 202594 kgUnited Airlines 2019109 kgUnited Airlines 2025112 kgFrontier Airlines 201984 kgFrontier Airlines 202575 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Denver to Minneapolis for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.050100Delta Air Lines 2019101 kgDelta Air Lines 2025108 kgSouthwest Airlines 2019107 kgSouthwest Airlines 202594 kgUnited Airlines 2019109 kgUnited Airlines 2025112 kgFrontier Airlines 201984 kgFrontier Airlines 202575 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Denver to Minneapolis and back: time in the air

Flights from Minneapolis to Denver spent 101 minutes in the air on average in 2025, against 91 minutes from Denver to Minneapolis: 10 minutes longer, 11% more. That's the westbound direction, into the prevailing west-to-east winds, which at flight levels often blow at well over 50 miles an hour.

At this route's average burn of about 921 gallons per flight hour, those extra minutes cost about 155 gallons per flight, which is about 1.1 gallons or 11 kg of CO2 for each passenger on the slower direction. The route figure above averages both directions.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
Minneapolis to Denver101.06,086
Denver to Minneapolis90.96,119

Fly or drive

Driving is about 796 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 236 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 134% more than the 101 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 3 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (79 kg each, and 59 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 313 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person by way of travel, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Denver and Minneapolis.0100200Flight, average101 kgCar, driver alone236 kgCar, 2 people118 kgCar, 4 people59 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, Denver to MinneapolisBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Denver and Minneapolis.0100200Flight, average101 kgCar, driver alone236 kgCar, 2 people118 kgCar, 4 people59 kg
CO2 per person, Denver to Minneapolis. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Los Angeles to Denver130 kg CO2 per passenger over 850 milesSan Francisco to Denver136 kg CO2 per passenger over 960 milesChicago to Denver129 kg CO2 per passenger over 890 milesNew York to Denver213 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,616 milesOrlando to Boston163 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,111 milesLas Vegas to Seattle128 kg CO2 per passenger over 867 milesSeattle to Phoenix164 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,107 milesNew York to Orlando141 kg CO2 per passenger over 947 miles

Airports on this route: Denver International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.