Airline fees dropping at McCarran

Airline fees are dropping at McCarran International Airport for the third consecutive year.

The average cost of airline fees will be $10.80 per passenger, effective July 1. That’s down from the $11.66 per passenger that was budgeted for the current year, and $12.06 per passenger in fiscal year 2013.

“The lower we can keep the costs for the airline, the more attractive we are as a destination,” said Christine Crews, McCarran public information administrator. “And the more they can bring in volume passengers.”

Airlines pay a number of different fees, including landing charges, terminal complex rentals and gate use. Those fees are combined to arrive at the average per-passenger cost.

A combination of factors is contributing to the airline fee decrease, including relatively flat debt service expenses and increases in non-airline revenue, such as concessions, gaming, advertising and parking, said Joe Piurkowski, McCarran chief financial officer.

The total operating cost for McCarran for its next fiscal year is $265.5 million. The airport saw 45.4 million passengers travel through in calendar year 2015, its third-busiest year. There are 28 airlines providing regular service in and out of McCarran, which ranks as the ninth-busiest airport in North America, Crews said.

McCarran boasts lower per-passenger fees than Los Angeles, San Francisco and Denver international airports, which charge $14.19, $16.24 and $12.10, respectively.

Dallas/Fort Worth, Phoenix and Atlanta charge less per passenger, at $8.75, $5.73 and $2.86, respectively.

At McCarran on July 1, aircraft gate use fees are dropping to $198,418, from $213,361. Landing fees are decreasing to $1.93 per ton of landing weight from $2.13 per ton.

Contact Jamie Munks at jmunks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0340. Find @JamieMunksRJ on Twitter.