Las Vegas’ McCarran airport traffic relatively flat in February, officials report

Increases in international travel were offset with declines reported by Southwest Airlines and other domestic carriers, making for a relatively flat February at McCarran International Airport, the Clark County Department of Aviation reported Monday.

More than 3.43 million airline passengers flew through the nation’s eighth-busiest airport last month, a narrow 0.3 percent decrease from February 2016, figures show.

More than 3.12 million passengers boarded or arrived on domestic flights last month, a 0.7 percent decrease from a year earlier. International flights arriving or departing McCarran carried 245,790 travelers, a 3.9 percent jump from a year earlier.

Despite the slim decline in February, year-over-year figures show 7.1 million passengers flew in or out of Las Vegas during the first two months of the year, a 1.6 percent increase from the same period in 2016.

Market leader Southwest Airlines reported more than 1.27 million passengers in February, a 3.2 percent drop from 2016. American Airlines, McCarran’s No. 2 carrier, reported a 5.9 percent decline with 335,207 passengers last month.

Third-place Delta Air reported a 4 percent increase from February 2016 with 276,035 passengers last month. No. 4 United Airlines reported a 1 percent decrease in traffic with 265,636 passengers. Spirit Airlines, McCarran’s No. 5 carrier, was up 9.5 percent with 242,187 passengers last month.

Las Vegas-based budget carrier Allegiant Air reported 174,996 passengers in February, down 1.7 percent from last year.

Air Canada had a 17.8 percent increase in traffic with 63,344 passengers last month, while Canadian carrier WestJet was down 7.2 percent with 71,457 passengers.

Virgin Atlantic Airways reported a 18.7 percent decrease in traffic with 10,323 passengers. British Airways carried 22,936 passengers in February, a 1.7 percent increase from last year. Norwegian Air Shuttle leaped 210.7 percent over last year to 10,395 passengers.

Korean Airlines was up 8.3 percent with 8,795 passengers. Chinese budget carrier Hainan Airlines, which launched service in December, reported 3,600 passengers.

Mexican carrier Interjet reported a 171.1 percent leap to 11,728 passengers in February, while Aeromexico had a 24.4 percent dip to 14,767 passengers, Volaris reported 13,560 passengers, a 23.2 percent decline compared with the same period a year earlier.

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