Las Vegas airport goes back-to-back with monthly passenger records

Harry Reid International Airport had back-to-back record months, reporting 5.1 million passengers arriving and departing in the month of June, airport officials said Monday.

June was the third-best month in history, trailing May, the second-best month ever, and October 2023, the best ever.

The total recorded in June was 3.7 percent greater than a year earlier.

June’s numbers bring the six-month total to 28.9 million passengers, 2.6 percent ahead of 2023’s record pace.

Airport traffic was bolstered by a 14.2 percent rise in international arrivals and departures to 321,189 for the month. The June international totals are responsible for a 20.4 percent increase for six months to 1.9 million.

Domestic arrivals and departures also increased, up 3.2 percent to 4.7 million for the month. For six months, domestic use is up 1.7 percent to 26.6 million.

Domestic and international use offset a 4.5 percent decline reported at westside private terminals and helicopter arrivals and departures.

How carriers are performing

Canadian discount air carrier Westjet continued to dominate international flying with 68,123 passengers, followed by Canadian flagship carrier Air Canada at 54,022.

Mexican discounter Volaris reported 26,894 passengers, up 11.5 percent from June 2023, with another discounter, Vivaaerobus at 20,887, up 33.1 percent, and Aeromexico at 12,176, up 28.6 percent.

Overseas runs were dominated by British Airways at 49,611, up 73.7 percent to and from Europe and Korean Air, 11,356, up 22.1 percent, from Asia.

On the domestic side, Southwest Airlines continues to dominate operations at Reid with 1.9 million passengers in June, up 4.2 percent from a year ago. In the first half year, Southwest is up 10.4 percent to 10.9 million passengers.

Southwest expects to continue to build capacity early next year when it introduces overnight “redeye” flights to Orlando, Florida, and Baltimore-Washington International Airport in February. Southwest also has a bid to begin nonstop round-trip service to and from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in central Washington D.C.

A distant second to Southwest was discounter Spirit Airlines, which had 733,343 passengers in June, up 5.9 percent, while Delta Air Lines and American Airlines were third and fourth with 469,848 passengers and 369,624 passengers, respectively.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.