Denver Reaches Deal on Airport Gates ROBERT WELLER Associated Press DENVER - The city has reached an agreement with the two largest carriers at Denver International Airport, United and Frontier, settling a dispute about how many gates each company will have, Mayor John Hickenlooper said Sunday. Frontier has said it needs more gates to accommodate its growing fleet, and would consider moving some of its operations to another airport if more gates are not available at DIA. "Neither side got everything they want, but this will work," Hickenlooper told The Associated Press. Officials scheduled a late-afternoon news conference to discuss details of the plan. United has been reluctant to surrender any of its gates, saying they are needed for a new low-cost airline the carrier plans to launch from Denver next year. Frontier spokesman Andrew Hudson said United will relinquish three gates during construction of an expansion of the west terminal. Once the expansion is complete, Denver-based Frontier will have 20 gates, nine more than it has now. "It's not the optimal solution but it is a good compromise," Hudson said. "Critical to our growth plan is having gate access at DIA. We can't express enough how much we appreciate Mayor Hickenlooper and his staff for making lemonade out of an orange." United officials did not immediately return calls for comment. While some other discount carriers had shied away from DIA because of expensive landing fees, Frontier has been the up-and-coming airline at the airport. It increased its share of traffic from 10 percent last year to 13 percent in 2003. Last summer Frontier's business was up 42 percent while overall traffic at the airport rose 2 percent and United, working to get out of bankruptcy, was down 6 percent. United, based in Elk Grove Village, Ill., still dominates the airport with 51 percent of traffic. But that has fallen from nearly 55 percent last year. Frontier is planning to expand its fleet by 60 percent over the next five years, and last month posted its first profit in five quarters. United has a 30-year agreement that requires it to average three flights a day per gate through 2025. It leases 51 gates at the airport. Frontier, DIA's second-largest carrier, threatened to expand to other cities unless it can lease eight additional gates. Roger EWROPS