McCarran sets record for consecutive months with 4M passengers
McCarran International notched a record by serving more than 4 million airline passengers for five consecutive months, the longest stretch in the airport’s history, the Clark County Department of Aviation reported Thursday.
Historically, traffic spikes at McCarran during top-of-the-ticket boxing matches or heavily attended conventions like the International Consumer Electronics Show.
But with no major events in recent months, airport spokesman Chris Jones said the numbers “speak to the fact that people just want to visit Las Vegas.”
“There isn’t a single, big draw that’s driving these numbers,” Jones said. “Events and conventions are still bringing in the passenger traffic, but there’s also an ongoing appeal to just come to Las Vegas.”
More than 3.6 million passengers boarded or arrived on domestic flights in September, a 7.2 percent increase from a year earlier. International flights arriving or departing McCarran carried 333,532 travelers, an 8.3 percent leap from a year earlier.
McCarran is on pace for a busy October, reporting another record just last week: 461,536 passengers were processed through the airport’s security checkpoints between Oct. 16 and 22.
“I think the continued congestion on Interstate 15 is motivating some travelers to just get out of their cars and into a plane,” said Jeremy Aguero, principal of Las Vegas-based Applied Analysis.
“But you can’t turn a blind eye to the fact that the economy has improved and more people are taking vacations,” Aguero said. “There is no one factor driving this, but I think it shows that Las Vegas has the ability to motivate people to just come out and visit.”
Year-over-year figures show that more than 35.5 million airline passengers traveled through Las Vegas during the first three-quarters of 2016, a 5 percent increase from the same period last year.
If passenger figures continue to climb through the end of 2016, McCarran International could break its all-time record of 47.8 million passengers in 2007.
“I think it’s fantastic because it speaks to the fact that the destination is doing well,” said Scott Russell, director of research at the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
“We remain optimistic that things will remain on the same path,” Russell said. “But I don’t have a crystal ball.”
Aviation consultant Mike Boyd said that low airfares and relatively cheap hotel rooms as some of the driving forces behind the steady increases in domestic and international travel at the nation’s eighth-busiest airport.
“In terms of value for your dollar, your yen, or your euro, nothing can match what you can get in Las Vegas,” said Boyd, who serves as president and CEO of Boyd Group International in Colorado.
“This 4 million monthly passenger number isn’t going to stop,” Boyd said. “It’s going to keep on growing because travel and leisure dollars are being spent, and Las Vegas is in the crosshairs for many of those travelers.”
Market leader Southwest reported more than 1.5 million passengers in September, a 3.5 percent increase from last year. American, the No. 2 carrier at McCarran, reported a 1.2 percent decrease, with 371,102 passengers last month. Third-place United reported a 6.8 percent jump from September 2015 with 342,490 passengers last month.
No. 4 Delta reported a 10.7 percent jump in traffic with 328,406 passengers. Spirit Airlines, the No. 5 carrier at McCarran, was up 9.3 percent with 268,128 passengers last month.
Las Vegas-based budget carrier Allegiant Air reported 189,382 passengers in September, a 20.9 percent jump from last year.
Air Canada saw a 40.7 percent increase in traffic with 77,408 passengers last month, while Canadian carrier WestJet was down 8.5 percent with 78,595 passengers.
Virgin Atlantic Airways reported a 4.5 percent increase last month, with 40,179 passengers. British Airways carried 30,674 passengers in September, a 6.6 percent increase from last year. Swiss carrier Edelweiss Air reported a 20.2 percent increase in traffic to 7,948 passengers last month. Korean Airlines was up 16 percent last month, with 7,863 passengers.
Mexican carrier Interjet reported a 73.3 percent jump to 8,775 passengers in September, while Aeromexico saw an 8.3 percent increase to 25,022 passengers. Volaris reported 17,439 passengers, a 9.2 percent decline compared with the same period last year.
Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.
