Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport continued to inch upward at the end of 2013’s third quarter, with 3.5 million people using the airport in September, a 1.2 percent increase over the same month a year ago.
The Clark County Aviation Department said today that passenger numbers were up 0.1 percent to 31.5 million for the first nine months of the year.
International and domestic passenger totals were up in September.
In past months, a higher number of international passengers offset a drop in domestic travelers. International passenger counts were up 2.4 percent to 260,222 while domestic travel was up 2.1 percent to 3.1 million.
Those gains were offset by a 2.7 percent decline to 84,762 passengers on scenic aircraft tours departing from McCarran’s west-side terminals.
Market leader Southwest Airlines had a 4 percent increase in passengers to 1.3 million while No. 2 Delta Air Lines saw a 13.7 percent increase to 334,835, thanks to the airline adding flights with bigger aircraft since September 2012.
The Southwest and Delta increases offset passenger declines by United and Allegiant Airlines, which cut flights or had seasonal schedule changes.
International passenger counts were paced by double-digit percentage increases by Copa Airlines and British Airways, which have added flights since last year.