Denver airport's flight traffic makes mesmerizing art
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Departures and arrivals at Denver International Airport. Rendering: James Reid/Heatmap Horizons
Denver International Airport doesn't just display art. It makes it.
Driving the news: James Reid, a 25-year-old software developer who lives in southeast England, turns flight tracking information into mesmerizing data visualizations of takeoffs and landings at major airports, including Denver's.
Zoom in: The DIA rendering reflects what Reid calls a "highly proceduralised airport," akin to Atlanta's or Dallas-Fort Worth's, where flight paths are remarkably consistent.
- He dubbed DIA "the vertical Atlanta" for its dominant north–south runway flow.
How it works: Denver's piece was generated using 12 weeks of DIA flight data collected over a year.
- Arrivals are in pink and purple (see Colorado Springs at the bottom?), while departures shoot out in yellow and green.
What he's saying: "I love making things any which way I can, particularly on the computer and in the kitchen," Reid, who is a longtime aviation buff and has a pilot's license, told Axios.
The bottom line: Turns out plane traffic makes pretty stunning wall decor.