Opportunities for new flights spurred by hosting Routes World

Representatives of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Harry Reid International Airport began prospecting for new flights to and from Las Vegas Monday at the three-day Routes World 2022 conference at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Routes World, which began Sunday and will conclude Tuesday, provides a forum for 30-minute meetings between cities, airports and airlines to consider where best to provide planes and flights for profitable operations.

LVCVA President and CEO Steve Hill said in a Monday media event that half the airlines’ commitments to fly to cities were the result of meetings conducted at past Routes events.

It’s the second time Routes World has been held in Las Vegas and the first time any city has been selected to host the event a second time. Las Vegas was the first North American city in 2013 to host the global event. Last time Routes visited Las Vegas, it led to the development of nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Amsterdam on KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.

Host cities often have an advantage in getting new routes because local officials can take airline executives to see some of the new attractions the city has to offer.

LVCVA and airport officials were able to show off Allegiant Stadium, NASCAR races at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway and the under-construction MSG Sphere at The Venetian to whet their appetites for providing new air service to Las Vegas.

Routes World 2022 is particularly relevant this year as cities and airports work to recover from the coronavirus pandemic that kept travelers on the sidelines in 2020 and 2021.

Remarkable recovery

Hill said Las Vegas has fully recovered and then some on domestic flight routes. Las Vegas now has 128 nonstop routes to cities — 12 more than it had prior to the pandemic. He added that international flying is around 85 percent recovered.

Las Vegas and Reid International, he said, are the most recovered destination in the world right now but it’s likely Asian destinations will catch up in the months ahead.

“The recovery here has been remarkable,” Hill said, noting that Reid posted record passenger counts earlier this year.

High on Hill’s wish list is to attain nonstop service between Las Vegas and Japan. Northwest Airlines and Japan Airlines once flew nonstop between Narita International Airport at Tokyo and Las Vegas in the late 1990s.

Steven Small, brand director for Routes World, said around 2,000 people are attending this year’s conference, the 27th in the event’s history.

“The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and Harry Reid International Airport provide a best-practices example of how a destination and airport should work together to secure and increase air connectivity,” Small said. “This is one of the many reasons why we have brought this back to Las Vegas.”

The LVCVA and Reid International have one of the rare partnerships between an airport and a destination marketing organization. Both learned early that they could benefit from a symbiotic relationship because more than half the city’s tourists arrive by plane. International arrivals generate more revenue for the city because of their longer stays and travelers’ propensity to spend more, and the LVCVA recognizes the need for greater airline lift to bring in more convention traffic.

Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation, acknowledged that Routes World has helped develop flights with more international carriers to four continents. She has no targeted airline or destination for this year’s conference but hopes to bolster more nonstop flights to Europe, South America and Asia.

“This event allows us to meet with airlines capable of providing nonstop air service for those eager to visit the sports and entertainment capital of the world,” she said.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.