Two years of uninterrupted growth came to an end at Denver International Airport in November when passenger numbers fell by over 4 percent.

The first significant decline in the airport's recent history was a reflection of the sluggish economy and the decision by US airlines to cut capacity.

A total of 3,679,384 travelers passed through DIA in November, a 4.7 percent drop from the 3,861,636 recorded during the same month of 2007. It was the largest monthly fall since December 2006, when traffic slumped 3.0 percent.

"We had been expecting something like this," said DIA Aviation Manager Kim Day. "We predicted for months that traffic during the latter part of the year would drop because of the airlines