Harry Reid (formerly McCarran) International Airport in Las Vegas could reach an annual capacity of up to 65 million by 2030, which could create headaches for the city’s tourist industry.
It served 52.6 million passengers last year, beating the previous record of 51.5 million in 2019. That is almost 13 million more travelers than in 2021, a 32.6 percent increase. This has occurred as passenger traffic has begun surpassing pre-Covid pandemic levels.
On the one hand, a growth in visitation is a source of joy, on the other hand a reliever airport won’t be in operation before 2037. Which could create overcrowding and attendant problems, according to a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, which quoted the Clark County Department of Aviation Director Rosemary Vassiliadis.
She said in a statement: “The trajectory of Las Vegas air travel throughout 2022 was nothing short of remarkable and could not have been achieved without the entire Clark County Aviation System.”
Although business traffic still has a ways to go to return to pre-Covid levels, travel by tourists exceeded expectations, spurred in part by more sports offerings. For example, in early December on one weekend there was a Las Vegas Raiders home game, the PAC 12 football championship and the National Finals Rodeo.
In addition, said the director, local residents are traveling more too. This was shown in that the parking garage at Terminal 1 reached capacity several times in 2022.
Vassiliadis commented, “Events of this caliber attract higher volumes of general aviation activity,” Vassiliadis said. “With these events happening at a greater frequency, Henderson Executive Airport and North Las Vegas Airport are more important than ever. These reliever airports play a crucial role in supporting general aviation activities, which allows LAS to maximize its commercial operations.”
Airport capacity was the subject of the keynote address at the 2023 Vegas Chamber Preview given by Jeremy Agueroa principal analyst of the company Applied Analysis. He also talked about rising levels of traffic on Interstate-15, water policy and keeping enough employees in the city.
There are currently talks by the Department of Aviation to build a reliever airport between the towns of Primm and Jean in the Invanpah Valley. Meanwhile Vassiliadis says the department is looking for other solutions since the lack of capacity could begin causing flight delays as early as 2029.
Other developments that could make the capacity problems happen even faster is the move to build a $1 billion ballpark for Major League Baseball’s Oakland A’s and the announcement that Formula 1 will be hosting the Las Vegas Grand Prix annually for the next ten years.
