McCarran traffic up 3.4 percent, helped by strong Southwest gains

Southwest Airlines got the traffic bump it expected in Las Vegas with the repeal of the Wright Amendment contributing to a 3.4 percent increase over last year in passengers using McCarran International Airport in October.

Southwest passenger counts were up 6.2 percent for the month — an increase of more than 88,000 passengers — and McCarran saw its total reach 3.9 million, according to the Clark County Aviation Department.

Much of the Southwest increase could be attributed to the Oct. 13 repeal of the Wright Amendment, a federal law that prohibited the Dallas-based airline from flying nonstop routes from Dallas’ Love Field to points beyond Texas and its adjacent states.

Southwest added three daily round trips between Dallas and Las Vegas accounting for some of the increase, but other schedule changes made McCarran a connecting point for other fliers to reach Dallas indirectly.

Southwest reported 1.5 million passengers for the month and the October numbers increased the year-to-date total to 14.3 million passengers, 2.7 percent ahead of 2013’s pace.

Increases in the months ahead could be even higher as Southwest added a fourth Las Vegas-Dallas round trip in early November.

McCarran also continued to see international traffic soar for the month. International passenger counts rose 21 percent to 322,004 in October, increasing the year-to-date count to 2.8 million passengers, 12.8 percent ahead of last year.

Domestic air traffic continued to climb at a moderate pace with 3.5 million passengers for the month, a 2.2 percent increase. After 10 months, domestic totals are up 1.8 percent to 32.6 million.

Among international carriers currently operating at McCarran, nearly every airline showed an increase in October over last year. Double-digit percentage increases were reported by Copa Airlines from Panama City (89.2 percent), Thomas Cook Airlines from Great Britain (65.9 percent), Interjet (55.7 percent) and Aeromexico (44.5 percent) from Mexico, Air Canada from Canada (46.4 percent), Korean Airlines from Seoul (24.8 percent) and Condor from Frankfurt, Germany (22.6 percent).

WestJet Airlines, a Canadian discount carrier that is McCarran’s busiest international operator, had a 4.2 percent increase in passengers in October and is on track to carry more than 1 million passengers to Las Vegas for the second straight year in 2014.

Britain’s major carriers, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, also had 2.3 percent and 3.2 percent increases, respectively.

Among the domestic airlines serving the airport, Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines continued its Las Vegas swoon, reducing capacity with fewer flights and smaller aircraft. Delta’s October traffic was down 9.1 percent to 327,697 passengers, placing it third behind Southwest and United, which had a 0.7 percent decline for the month.

No. 5 Spirit Airlines, a deep discounter based in Miramar, Fla., continued its Las Vegas growth with a 2.7 percent increase to 228,435 passengers. For the year, Spirit counts are up 11.6 percent to 1.9 million passengers.

The only category with a decline in October was the westside charter and helicopter terminal, which fell 5.1 percent in October, largely because of the discontinuation of operations in March by Heli-USA, a helicopter air tour company.

For the year, charter and helicopter tour traffic is off 1.3 percent to 790,123 passengers, but air tour companies Maverick, Papillon and Sundance are having better years this year than last.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Find him on Twitter: @RickVelotta