McCarran passenger total for 2016 falls just short of record

McCarran International Airport served 47.4 million passengers in 2016 — just shy of the record set nine years earlier, the Clark County Department of Aviation reported Thursday.

McCarran missed the mark by about 400,000 travelers, making it the second-busiest year in the airport’s 68-year history. The record, set in 2007, remains at 47.8 million airline passengers.

A record-setting year was anticipated for the nation’s eighth-busiest airport after McCarran International served more than 4 million airline passengers for six consecutive months through October, the longest stretch in the airport’s history.

Another record was set in October, when 461,536 passengers moved through the airport’s security checkpoints between Oct. 16 and 22 — the most for a single week.

The news comes after the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority reported a record-breaking 42.9 million visitors to Las Vegas in 2016, surpassing 2015’s record-setting 42.3 million.

McCarran closed the year with 42.89 million passengers boarding or arriving on domestic flights, a 4.8 percent increase from 2015. International flights arriving or departing McCarran carried 3.49 million travelers in 2016, a 2.2 percent leap from a year earlier.

“As Las Vegas continues to be one of the world’s top leisure and business destination, McCarran is committed to supporting our community and prides itself on being part of the Las Vegas experience,” said Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of the county’s aviation department.

Contact Art Marroquin at amarroquin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0336. Find @AMarroquin_LV on Twitter.