McCarran passenger count for May best since 2007

More than 4.1 million airline passengers passed through McCarran International last month, marking the airport’s best May performance since 2007, the Clark County Department of Aviation will report Wednesday.

The nation’s ninth-busiest airport saw an overall 3.9 percent increase in departing and arriving passengers over May 2015.

Domestic flights drove most of the growth at McCarran, while international travel saw a small uptick for the first time in several months. More than 3.7 million airline passengers boarded or left on domestic flights last month, a 4.2 percent jump from a year earlier.

International flights arriving or departing McCarran carried 324,174 travelers in May, a 2.6 increase from a year earlier.

Mexican carrier Interjet reported an 83 percent increase to 8,807 passengers in May, while Aeromexico and Volaris both saw declines at 5.2 percent and 6.7 percent, respectively, compared to the same period last year.

Air Canada saw a 25.3 percent jump in traffic with 75,757 passengers, while the Canadian carrier WestJet was down 16.2 percent with 80,273 passengers. South America’s lukewarm economy has affected Panama-based Copa Airlines, which was down 33.3 percent from last year.

Year-over-year figures show that more than 19.1 million airline passengers traveled through Las Vegas during the first five months of 2016, a 5.6 percent increase from the same period last year.

Once again, four of the airport’s top five carriers continued to report growth. No. 5 Spirit Airlines reported the biggest leap in traffic, up 17.3 percent with 287,709 passengers in May. Market leader Southwest reported more than 1.5 million passenger last month, a 2.7 percent increase from last year.

United Airlines, the fourth-largest carrier serving McCarran, again showed a decline as passenger counts dropped by 8 percent to 314,145 passengers in May.

Traffic for No. 2 carrier American Airlines was flat, with 415,603 passengers in May. Third-place Delta reported a 4.3 percent increase from May 2015 with 347,144 passengers last month.

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