Vegas Inc. coverage
Domestic passenger counts sputtered in January, but a big bump in international arrivals and Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air’s 10.3 percent increase in passengers for the month kept economic momentum alive at McCarran International Airport.
Airport officials reported Friday that McCarran drew 3.2 million passengers in January, a 0.3 percent increase over the same month in 2011.
Most domestic air carriers reported declines for the month, in part because of seasonal flight schedule changes that resulted in fewer flights to Las Vegas.
Market leader Southwest Airlines flew 1.2 million passengers to the city, a 4.9 percent decline from January 2011, but the airline had 5.5 percent fewer flights. US Airways, the No. 5 carrier at the airport, had 159,155 passengers a 21.6 percent decline, with 39.9 percent fewer flights.
McCarran reported 219,254 international passengers for the month, a 21.5 percent increase over January 2011’s figures, in part due to the staging of the largest International Consumer Electronics Show in history Jan. 10-13.
Six international carriers Aeromexico, British Airways, Korean Airlines, Philippine Airlines, Vivaaerobus and WestJet Airlines reported double-digit percentage increases in passengers for the month. In addition, Mexican carrier Volaris was new to the market in March 2011.
While Southwest and legacy carriers Delta, American, United and US Airways had declines for the month, JetBlue and Virgin America had double-digit percentage increases and last year’s fastest growing airline at the airport, Spirit, was up 294.2 percent over January 2011 to 120,861 passengers.