In its 70th year of operation, McCarran International Airport welcomed 49.7 million arriving and departing passengers, making 2018 the busiest year in the airport’s history. In addition to this new annual record, McCarran posted multiple all-time-high months over the course of the year, including October 2018 logging the highest single-month passenger volume in airport history. With a 2.5 percent rise in passenger volume, this is the eighth consecutive year the commercial airport serving Southern Nevada has experienced a year-over-year increase.
“McCarran has again been experiencing continuous growth for several years, setting and breaking passenger records month after month, and now, year after year,” said Rosemary A. Vassiliadis, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation. “In the midst of all this hustle and bustle, McCarran was ranked No. 1, along with Orlando, in passenger satisfaction among Mega Airports in the J.D. Power 2018 North America Airport Satisfaction Study. I believe it’s our commitment to customer service that our travelers notice and appreciate.”
Domestic volume grew by 2.2 percent, accounting for 945,000 additional Las Vegas passengers for the year. Low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines and Sun Country Airlines posted substantial growth percentages, while perennial market-leader Southwest Airlines held steady with more than 18 million passengers transported for the year.
In 2018, international passenger volume increased by 5.6 percent over the year prior, with Westjet Airlines and Air Canada serving the bulk of international traffic. Combined with counts from newcomers Swoop and Flair, Canada was once again the top country of origin for international air travelers to Las Vegas at a total of nearly 1.9 million passengers. Mexico surpassed England to become the second-largest source of international passengers with more than 667,000 served, including flights from Frontier Airlines, the only domestic carrier with scheduled international service to Las Vegas. Asian air service also came in strong with both Hainan Airlines and Korean Airlines reporting gains for the year.
Continuing its trend of new service from markets outside of the United States, in 2018 McCarran added seasonal flights from Sao Paulo by LATAM Airlines, the first scheduled nonstop flights to Las Vegas from Brazil; and announced new non-stop from KLM (Amsterdam) and EL AL (Tel Aviv) to begin in June 2019.
