June 24--May passenger counts at McCarran International Airport were the highest for any month in 2013.
The Clark County Aviation Department today said 3.8 million people passed through the gates of Las Vegas' airport, a 2.6 percent increase over May 2012.
It was only the second month of the year in which passenger counts were higher than the corresponding month a year ago.
Counts were higher domestically and internationally, and air tour traffic was up 19.1 percent for the month. The top five airlines serving McCarran had percentage increases over May 2012, including Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air with a 10.1 percent boost.
For the first five months of the year, traffic is down 0.3 percent to 17.1 million people.
Southwest Airlines continued to dominate in Las Vegas with 1.5 million passengers, a 5.9 percent increase over May 2012.
No. 2 Delta's traffic was up 1 percent to 336,857 while No. 3 United had a higher monthly total with 354,271, up 1.2 percent. American was up 6.8 percent to 228,258 passengers, and Allegiant hit 198,927 passengers for the month.
International lift has been the big story at McCarran this year, and for the first five months of 2012, traffic is up 5 percent to 1.2 million. Korean Airlines, British Airways and Thomas Cook Airlines had double-digit percentage increases thanks to added flights, and Dutch carrier Arkefly began its seasonal service in May. Traffic was off for Air Canada and Virgin Atlantic.
The surge in international traffic was partially responsible for double-digit percentage increases for six air tour operations. In May, 3.8 million passengers boarded helicopter and scenic tour flights.
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