Tuesday, Nov. 4, marked the one-year anniversary of the return of commercial passenger air service to the Dubuque Regional Airport. Denver Air Connection (DAC) began operating daily flights between Dubuque and O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on Nov. 4, 2024.

Over the last year, the flights have allowed thousands of travelers to easily fly between Dubuque and Chicago, connecting to hundreds of destinations beyond, while adding millions of dollars in economic impact to the Dubuque region. The flights represented the return of daily, commercial air service to Dubuque following American Airlines’ departure in September 2022.

Denver Air Connection’s current flight schedule allows passengers to depart Dubuque for O’Hare at the beginning of the workday and return to Dubuque in time for their evening meal. In between, flyers can seamlessly connect to hundreds of destinations beyond O’Hare through the United, American and Delta global networks, with Denver Air’s interline agreements. Tickets can be purchased directly through those airlines, through online travel retailers (Google Flights, Kayak, Expedia, Cheap Flights, etc.), or Denver Air Connection.

Since the flights began last November, nearly 15,000 passengers have utilized the flights to/from Chicago/O’Hare. The average monthly load factor for the flights, which tracks the percentage of seats filled by paying passengers, has increased steadily in the first year of service.

After moving to the current morning departure and evening arrival flight schedule in May, the load factor increased by 20% from May through July of 2025, with an additional 20% jump in load factor from August through October. In fact, October’s monthly load factor was 53%, and roughly one-quarter of the flights over the past 30 days have had load factors of 70% or higher, with some exceeding 80%, demonstrating significant progress as the new service reached its one-year anniversary.

Travelers can currently take advantage of a fantastic promotion from Dubuque Initiatives which offers a $100 rebate for each roundtrip ticket purchased between Aug. 11 and Dec. 31, 2025. There are no restrictions on when the flights can be used, but the tickets must be purchased during that timeframe. Details are available at www.flydbq.com/incentives, which includes information on Denver Air Connection’s frequent flyer and corporate discount programs.

The Denver Air Connection flights into and out of Dubuque have been incredibly reliable in their first year of operation. Data shows the flights have a 98% completion rate, meaning cancellations have been few and far between. Additionally, arrivals into DBQ and ORD have an on-time rate of 85%, significantly better than the industry average of 75%.

The flights have also added significantly to the Dubuque area economy. Based on data from the Iowa Aviation Economic Impact Report, the return of daily, commercial air service has translated to an estimated economic impact of over $18 million for the first year of operations.

Additionally, Dubuque passengers have taken full advantage of Denver Air’s connectivity with the American, Delta, and United networks, traveling to nearly 100 different markets in the first year. The vast majority of flyers utilizing the Dubuque flights connect beyond O’Hare, with United showing a slightly larger share of traffic over American.

Passengers have used the available connections to spread across the United States, with preferred destinations including Orlando, Boston, Washington DC, New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Denver.