The first direct air route from China to Las Vegas is likely to start this fall, and could prove very beneficial to sagging gaming and international travel numbers.
Chinese travelers to Las Vegas currently must use hubs to arrive at McCarran, which lengthens the travel time, while reducing their potential stay in Las Vegas.
The new route, which awaits U.S. regulatory approval, could bring an additional 639 Chinese visitors each week and more than 33,000 per year to Las Vegas and improve the city’s sagging international travel numbers.
McCarran International Airport had 4.1 million passengers come through its gates in March, a 5.5 percent increase from a year earlier. The total is the best March numbers since 2008.
Travel among domestic passengers is up by 6.2 percent at 3.7 million coming from within the U.S. in March. International passenger traffic decreased by 1 percent, with 285,046 arrivals and departures for the month.
Among international passengers, Europe and Asia filled the most airline seats, while traffic to and from Canada and Central America decreased.
Through the first three months of the year, McCarran served some 11.1 million passengers, putting is 7.1 percent ahead of the pace to top the 45.4 million passengers it served last year. An extra passenger day on Feb. 29 due to the Leap Year partly helped to boost the passenger total.
Asian passenger travel likely will improve for the year, as China’s fourth-largest airline adds three weekly round-trip routes from Beijing International Airport to McCarran. Hainan Airlines plans to use a twin-engine, 213-seat Boeing 787 Dreamliner for the route, starting in September.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China recently approved the route for Hainan Airlines, and it’s pending approval by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
China approved the route just weeks after the launch of joint U.S.-China tourism campaign, making U.S. regulatory approval highly likely.
Once approved, passengers on the direct route would have more time and money to spend in Las Vegas, by eliminating the need for hub routes and longer travel times.
An additional 33,000 Chinese visitors should help improve sagging gaming revenues on the Las Vegas Strip, which declined by 3.9 percent in March.
Las Vegas Strip casinos posted a $486 million gaming win in March, which was down 3.9 percent from a year earlier. For the fiscal year, gaming win totals are down by a tenth of a percent on the Las Vegas Strip.
Downtown Las Vegas casinos posted a steeper decline of 4.1 percent in March, compared to a year ago. Fortunately, numbers are still up by 7.4 percent for the year on Fremont Street and at nearby casinos.
