"Las Vegas airport hits new heights with 40 million passengers in year"

Monday, December 20, 2004

Las Vegas airport hits new heights with 40 million passengers in year
The Las Vegas (NV) Review-Journal


A Christmas gift of sorts arrived a few days early at McCarran International
Airport, which this weekend unwrapped an accomplishment few other U.S.
airports can claim: 40 million passengers in one year.

Officials with the Clark County Aviation Department estimate the Las Vegas
airport topped that threshold late Saturday or early Sunday, easily
eclipsing a former 12-month record of nearly 36.9 million arriving and
departing travelers set four years ago.

And with two of the busiest holiday periods still to come, McCarran should
pad its numbers significantly during the year's final 12 days. Daily
passenger counts routinely top 100,000 during peak periods, so it's not
improbable that 2004 will end with nearly 41 million passengers served.

"We were anticipating strong growth, but this was much more than we had
projected when we sat down ... to plan our employee loads and how we'd
handle our year," Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said.

"It's indicative of what's happened to our town in terms of tourism volume,"
he added, citing record interest in the local hotel, casino and trade show
industries.

Last year, only four U.S. airports reported more than 40 million passengers,
according to the Airports Council International-North America, a
Washington-based trade group. They were Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson (79
million); Chicago O'Hare (69.5 million); Los Angeles International (54.9
million); and Dallas-Fort Worth (53.2 million).

McCarran ranked seventh in 2003, also trailing Denver International's 37.5
million and Phoenix Sky Harbor's 37.4 million.

However, five of 2003's six busiest airports are either hubs for major
carriers (Delta in Atlanta; United in Chicago and Denver; and American in
Dallas-Fort Worth) or key international gateways (Chicago and Los Angeles).

Only Phoenix, which like McCarran is a hub for the smaller Southwest and
America West airlines, has a business model that's similar to the one in Las
Vegas, which relies primarily on travelers starting or ending trips rather
than passing through on the way to another destination.

"Our hubbing percentage will end the year around 12 percent to 14 percent,
which is high for us but nothing compared to some other places," Walker
said, explaining that McCarran usually connects only 8 percent of its
passengers.

By contrast, Atlanta connects about 60 percent of its passengers, while
O'Hare and Dallas-Forth Worth routinely connect about half of theirs.

Even without a megaresort debut to boost local visits, Las Vegas' travel
industry, and its airport, has enjoyed an unprecedented run since late last
year. In 2004, its efforts to attract more foreign and business travelers
coincided favorably with industrywide trends, said Cathy Keefe, spokeswoman
for the Washington-based Travel Industry Association of America.

The U.S. Department of Commerce expects that inbound international traffic
will increase 7.5 percent to 43 million visitors this year.

Almost on cue, Las Vegas in March added four weekly flights from Manila,
Philippines, (by way of Vancouver, British Columbia) operated by Philippine
Airlines, and a fourth weekly London flight by Virgin Atlantic Airways. In
October, Derby, England-based bmi added thrice-weekly nonstop service to and
from England's Manchester International, further expanding this city's
overseas reach.

Business travel should increase by 4 percent this year, its first annual
gain since 1998, Keefe said. Convention travel has been the strongest part
of the sector, and Las Vegas last year became home to three of the nation's
largest convention centers.

Leisure travel, a Las Vegas staple, also rebounded in 2004, and Keefe said
McCarran probably benefited from bargain-hunting guests.

"People are more confident about flying, discretionary spending is up, and
when it comes to Las Vegas, there are a lot of great deals out there," Keefe
said. "I suspect a lot of people felt like they couldn't afford not to go
there this year."

ANNUAL PASSENGER TRAFFIC AT MCCARRAN INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

2004: 40+ million *

2003: 36,265,932

2002: 35,009,011

2001: 35,179,960

2000: 36,865,866 **

* Through mid-December

** Previous annual record

SOURCE: Clark County Aviation Department

WHAT'S NEXT?: More than a dozen senior Clark County Aviation Department
executives spent Friday crammed in a Green Valley Ranch Station conference
room working to prevent what could become a major threat to the Southern
Nevada economy.

Passenger traffic at McCarran International Airport is on track to increase
by 11 percent this year to nearly 41 million. Should that pace continue into
2005 and beyond, the 56-year-old airport will reach its effective limits
before planned expansions are built to serve additional travelers.

Before delays become too severe, airport leaders met to discuss ways to
accommodate demand that has greatly surpassed historic traffic projections.

McCarran's next addition is a 10-gate expansion of the D-gates concourse
scheduled to open between February and March. Beyond that, a second D-gates
addition and the full-service Terminal 3 project remain several years away.

"We're going to have to figure some innovative ways to push more people
through the airport than we had originally designed it for," Aviation
Director Randall Walker said.


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