Boosted by strong gains in international travel, the Las Vegas airport continues a stellar 2016 in terms of passenger growth.
More than 4.2 million people traveled through McCarran International Airport last month, marking both the busiest October in the facility’s history and the sixth consecutive month above the 4 million passenger count.
October’s total represents a 4.2 percent jump from the same month in 2015.
For the year, McCarran will pass 40 million passengers served by the end of this year. The number climbed above 39.8 million through October, representing a 5 percent gain over 2015.
While increased domestic travel accounts for the bulk of McCarran’s improvement for the year, international visitation shot up dramatically in October. Nearly 350,000 international travelers came through the airport last month, a leap of 10 percent from October 2015.
Passenger counts for most of the large airlines serving Las Vegas have been increasing this year. Low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines continues to lead the pack in Southern Nevada, with 17.5 percent year-over-year growth as it adds routes to Las Vegas from throughout the country.
Last year, McCarran served 525,000 flights and 45 million passengers. Those totals ranked it as the eighth-busiest airport in the country last year, based on passenger volume.