McCarran director wants action to restore international flights

The federal government needs to move quickly to restore international flights to the United States.

That’s the message Rosemary Vassiliadis, McCarran International Airport’s director of aviation, gave during testimony before a Senate subcommittee hearing Tuesday.

Vassiliadis, who heads Clark County’s Department of Aviation, told the subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion, led by Sen. Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., that restarting international air travel is a critical step to supporting the recovery of Southern Nevada’s tourism-based economy.

“At our 2019 peak, Las Vegas enjoyed nonstop service to and from 11 different countries around the globe; now that number is down to one: Mexico,” Vassiliadis said. “Over the first four months of 2021, our international volume has amounted to less than 80,000 passengers. However, there is hope on the horizon. Almost every week, I or members of my team hear from representatives of international air carriers expressing interest in quickly resuming flights to Las Vegas.”

International visitation crested at 3.8 million passengers to Las Vegas in 2019 before effects of the coronavirus pandemic set in and airlines quit flying internationally as a means to slow the spread of the virus.

When nonstop international flights peaked, McCarran was seeing regularly scheduled service from Great Britain, Germany, South Korea, China, Panama, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, France and Canada in addition to Mexico.

Vassiliadis was among three witnesses to testify before the committee and the only one directly tied to aviation.

Other testimony was received from William Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Christopher Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, a national tourism promotion bureau.

“These airlines ask us point-blank: What is the U.S. doing to reopen travel?” Vassiliadis said. “When will our airline be able to resume bringing vacationers and conventioneers to Las Vegas? To take advantage of this opportunity — ideally in time for the 2021 summer travel season — we need immediate, active leadership from the U.S. government.”

Vassiliadis cited the International Civil Aviation Organization, a U.N. agency, with developing a testing and cross-border risk management measures manual.

“ICAO advocates for a flexible approach to opening borders, adjusting for real-time conditions such as vaccination rates and the severity of COVID-19 outbreaks at both the destination and point of origin,” Vassiliadis told the committee. “The United Kingdom has put into place its own risk-based measures that have opened its borders to select countries — but notably not the United States. The European Union is expanding a digital certification process to open movement among those who have been vaccinated, have received a negative test result or have already recovered from COVID-19.”

But in the United States, a presidential proclamation bans nearly all travel from specific countries, including European nations and the United Kingdom.

“This blanket approach is unnecessarily crippling our economic productivity,” she said. “There is a better way, and our nation must move quickly to implement existing solutions for safely admitting international travelers.”

Vassiliadis admitted it isn’t going to be easy — or inexpensive. She said Congress needs to enable investments to make changes in airport infrastructure, including health-related considerations arising from the pandemic.

That means higher fees in the form of passenger facility charges, or PFCs.

“The PFC cap has not kept pace with rising construction costs or inflation since it was last adjusted to $4.50 more than 20 years ago,” Vassiliadis told the panel. “Since then its purchasing power has eroded by more than 40 percent. Adjusting the federal cap on local PFCs would reduce financial pressure and give airports the option of using more local funds for their infrastructure needs.

“Such investments will then help airports to attract new air carriers and entice existing ones to expand, thereby promoting competition and lowering airfares into their communities, all in a manner that promotes safety, health and increased traveler confidence,” she said.

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