Las Vegas’ McCarran airport sees 92% passenger dip in May

Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport saw a 92 percent drop in passenger traffic year-over-year in May.

Last month, a total of 391,712 passengers arrived or departed from McCarran airport, down from the 4.6 million passengers seen in May 2019, the Clark County Department of Aviation announced Monday.

Despite the drastic year-over-year dip, there were some signs of recovery as May’s passenger count was up 157 percent over April’s 152,716 passengers, which was the lowest monthly passenger count in recent history, according to Joe Rajchel, McCarran spokesman.

For the year, the airport’s passenger count is down 49 percent, with a total of 10.6 million passengers through May, down from the 20.8 million passengers through May 2019.

Southwest Airlines, McCarran’s busiest carrier, saw 229,622 passengers, an 86 percent decrease over May 2019’s 1.6 million passengers. Southwest’s passenger count increased by 231 percent over April’s 69,289 passengers.

Hometown airline Allegiant Air saw 20,268 passengers last month, a 90 percent dip from the 211,748 passengers last May. Allegiant’s count was up 10,085 percent over April’s passenger count of 199.

With casino properties in the Las Vegas valley beginning to reopen June 4 and continuing throughout the month, June’s passenger count should be expected to eclipse May’s numbers.

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.