Denver International Airport (DIA) is the largest airport in the US that was visited by almost 70 million passengers per year in the pre-pandemic times. DIA is located in the Denver airspace, i.e., class B airspace. In this airspace, “there could be long haul flights en route (e.g. from Los Angeles to Chicago) traveling at very high altitudes” as well as military and commercial flights (Denver International Airport, para. 2). Overall, class B airspace is situated near the critical airport traffic areas.
Class B airspace begins closely to DIA, and its shelves of a greater radius spread at higher altitudes from it. For this reason, this airspace resembles an inverted cone-shaped pyramid. However, this type of airspace rarely takes the shape of concentric circles because the shelves from the major airport have cutouts with the shelves of smaller airports located nearby. In the case of DIA, its shelves intersect with the ones of Colorado Air and Space Port, Stevens Village Airport, and Malcolm McKinnon St. Simons Island Airport.
The administration of an airport has no authority to manage aircraft routing, belonging of an airport to this or that class of airspace, and separation of airspace. That is because all decisions are made by the Air Traffic Control (ATC) specialists. Concerning Class B airspace, there is a rule that a pilot cannot enter this airspace without the permission of ATC and a transponder squawk code. Besides, flying in this airspace is available only for the pilots who acquired the Private Pilot’s License. These measures and strict separation of responsibilities are needed to prevent the possibility of aircrafts collision in the air and during takeoff or landing. Additionally, it is necessary to have three statute miles of visibility for this airspace.
Reference
Denver International Airport. Why are planes flying over this area, we’re not under a flight path? Web.