In testimony last month before a Senate subcommittee, the director of aviation at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas urged lawmakers to restore international flights before the summer season officially kicks in.
Rosemary Vassiliadis told the subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion that the flights are essential to rebooting Southern Nevada’s tourism-based economy. The subcommittee was headed by Senator Jacky Rosen, a Nevada Democrat, reported the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
“At our 2019 peak, Las Vegas enjoyed nonstop service to and from 11 different countries around the globe; now that number is down to one: Mexico,” Vassiliadis said. “Over the first four months of 2021, our international volume has amounted to less than 80,000 passengers. However, there is hope on the horizon. Almost every week, I or members of my team hear from representatives of international air carriers expressing interest in quickly resuming flights to Las Vegas.
“To take advantage of this opportunity — ideally in time for the 2021 summer travel season—we need immediate, active leadership from the U.S. government,” she said.
Before nonstop international flights stopped, McCarran hosted regular service from the U.K., Germany, South Korea, China, Panama, Israel, Switzerland, Netherlands, France and Canada in addition to Mexico.
The senators also heard from William Talbert III, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Christopher Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA, a national tourism promotion bureau.
Vassiliadis said the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a U.N. agency, “advocates for a flexible approach to opening borders, adjusting for real-time conditions such as vaccination rates and the severity of Covid-19 outbreaks at both the destination and point of origin.
“The United Kingdom has put into place its own risk-based measures that have opened its borders to select countries—but notably not the United States. The European Union is expanding a digital certification process to open movement among those who have been vaccinated, have received a negative test result or have already recovered from Covid-19.”
Much international travel to the United States is still forbidden by order of President Joe Biden. Vassiliadis said, “This blanket approach is unnecessarily crippling our economic productivity. There is a better way, and our nation must move quickly to implement existing solutions for safely admitting international travelers.”
