Las Vegas airport records busiest April on record

McCarran International Airport logged its busiest April on record, marking a 14th consecutive month in gains for passenger traffic, according to figures released Wednesday by the Clark County Aviation Department.

More than 4.18 million people departed or arrived on flights at the Las Vegas airport last month, breaking McCarran’s previous record of 4.06 million passengers in April 2017, aviation department officials said.

Of that, 3.78 million air travelers boarded or arrived on domestic flights at the nation’s eighth-busiest airport last month, up 3 percent from a year earlier. International flights arriving or departing Las Vegas carried 320,813 passengers, a 7 percent jump from a year earlier.

Year-to-date, more than 15.83 million passengers have flown in or out of McCarran during the first four months of 2018, a 3 percent increase from the same period last year.

If the incremental growth continues, McCarran could have a second consecutive record-breaking year, surpassing the 48.5 million airline passengers to pass through in 2017, Clark County Aviation Director Rosemary Vassiliadis said last month.

Among the airport’s five busiest carriers, small dips were reported by market-leader Southwest and American, while increases were logged by Delta, Spirit and United, according to the aviation department.

Traffic increases were also reported by Alaska, Allegiant, Frontier, JetBlue and Sun Country.

Among international airlines, Canadian carrier WestJet saw a 11.2 percent increase with 86,941 passengers last month, while Air Canada was up 3.4 percent with 78,565 passengers.

Virgin Atlantic Airways reported a 13.3 percent decline in traffic with 26,683 passengers. British Airways carried 31,456 passengers in April, a 10.4 percent increase from last year, while British competitor Thomas Cook Airlines was down 4.2 percent with 12,888 passengers.

Korean Air was up 12.8 percent with 10,186 passengers. Chinese carrier Hainan reported a 31.2 percent jump in traffic with 4,142 passengers.

Mexican carrier Interjet reported a 14.4 percent increase to 14,168 passengers in April, while Aeromexico had a 23.9 percent drop to 13,342 passengers. Copa Airlines reported a 17 percent increase in April with 8,712 passengers.

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