For the second time in three months, McCarran International Airport in May topped the 3.9 million mark for arriving and departing passengers.

The Clark County Aviation Department said Thursday the Las Vegas airport's May passenger count was up 9.3 percent from the same month a year ago.

The count fell just 28,000 passengers below March's 3.93 million, which remains the airport's busiest month ever based on passengers alone.

Year-to-date through May, McCarran's nearly 18 million passengers represented a 6.8 percent increase from last year's five-month pace. The airport went on to set a 12-month record in 2004 with nearly 41.5 million annual passengers.

Southwest Airlines, which kicked off its daily Las Vegas-Pittsburgh service on May 4, held onto its usual position atop the list of McCarran's busiest carriers. The Dallas-based airline reported nearly 1.2 million May passengers, a 7.7 percent increase from the same month a year ago.

Through May, Southwest's local traffic count was nearly 5.6 million, up 6.5 percent.

Tempe, Ariz.-based America West remained in second place with 683,029 May passengers, up 15.5 percent from May 2004.

America West last month launched daily nonstops between McCarran and Oklahoma City and Anchorage, Alaska, and began a partnership with Vegas.com, a popular online reservation service that offers hotel and entertainment packages to potential Las Vegas visitors.

America West's annual traffic at McCarran topped the 3 million mark in May, up 10.4 percent from a year ago.

United Airlines ranked third with 299,364 May passengers, a 2 percent gain. Fourth-ranked Delta Air Lines finished fourth in the month with 229,407 passengers, down 0.3 percent.

American Airlines rounded out May's Top Five with 232,734 passengers, up 6.3 percent.

Year-to-date, United and Delta's local passenger counts were up 4.2 percent and 5.3 percent, respectively. American's, however, was down 0.3 percent.