McCarran airport braces for heavy traffic from CES

McCarran International is bracing for the busiest week in the airport’s 70-year history as conventioneers fly into Las Vegas for CES, officials said Friday.

More than 1 million people are expected to pass through McCarran International from Sunday to Jan. 13, airport spokeswoman Christine Crews said.

An additional 170 domestic flights and 58 international flights were expected to arrive or depart from Las Vegas to handle the massive influx of travelers headed to the international consumer electronics show, Crews said. More than 165,000 people are expected to attend.

CES, which is dedicated to new products and technological innnovations such as self-driving cars and artificial intelligence, is the largest expo in Las Vegas by attendees and convention space. It will take up residence at the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Sands Expo and Convention Center and the Aria Convention Center. The four-day show runs from Tuesday to Friday.

“A busy airport is always a good time for Las Vegas because it’s business coming into our community and it’s visitors spending their dollars here, so we’re an economic indicator of how well things are going,” Crews said. “There’s a lot of planning going into this because customer service is a high-priority focus.”

Sunday and Monday will be the busiest days for arrivals at McCarran, while Friday will be the busiest for departures, Crews said. The high volume of airline passengers passing through Las Vegas will affect airport operations heavily.

Airport officials coordinated with federal authorities to strengthen staffing for security at screening at McCarran during CES, Crews said. Additional ground transportation workers will monitor anticipated traffic jams caused by an increase of taxicab and ride-hailing drivers.

Crews declined to speculate whether the airport will set another single-day record for airline travelers who catch an Uber or a Lyft.

A record 10,262 people used the ride-hailing companies Nov. 26, which followed the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend and led into the Amazon web-related convention, which drew roughly 40,000 attendees.

Because of the increased traffic, travelers were advised to arrive at Terminal 3 and take the airport’s shuttle into Terminal 1.

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