US Airways contributes to slow LV air travel

The number of people flying to and from Las Vegas was flat in October thanks in large part to a 21 percent decline in the number of passengers on the second-largest airline at McCarran International Airport.

It was the slowest-growth month for McCarran since May 2006. The last time McCarran posted a negative-growth month was August 2003, when traffic dipped less than 1 percent.

For the year, traffic is up more than 4 percent to 40.2 million through October. That keeps McCarran on pace to handle about 48 million passengers, which would be a record set without the aid of any new resort openings on the Strip.

The biggest drag on the airport's numbers came courtesy of US Airways. That airline carried fewer than 700,000 passengers to and from Las Vegas, compared to nearly 900,000 in October of 2006.

It was the second straight month of big declines for US Airways. In September the airline posted a 16 percent decline to and from Las Vegas after it cut the number of seats serving the market from about 254,000 to 211,000.

United was the only other airline in McCarran's top five to post a decrease for the month. The airline carried about 285,000 passengers, down 4 percent from the previous October. United is down more than 4 percent for the year at McCarran.

Southwest, the airline that carries most passengers to and from Las Vegas, increased more than 4 percent to about 1.4 million arriving and departing passengers.

Delta and Continental both posted small increases for the month.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant continued its growth in October. It was up almost 13 percent for the month and more than 25 percent year to date.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or (702) 477-3861.