Vegas airline capacity continues to decline

Tuesday, June 5, 2001 | 11:05 a.m.

Nonstop flights between Las Vegas and four international destinations ended in May as the number of airline seats destined for Las Vegas fell for a third straight month.

The number of flights into the city stayed the same from April to May while capacity decreased 0.4 percent to 63,947 seats per day, as airlines juggled their summer schedules and allocated smaller planes to serve the Las Vegas market.

An average of about 200 seats a day disappeared from markets in Mexico and Canada as Mexicana Airlines discontinued its nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Mexico City that operated three times a week, and Canada 3000 scratched its nonstops between Las Vegas and Victoria, British Columbia, and consolidated another route.

Angela Saclamacis, a spokeswoman for Canada 3000, said the airline's two flights a week between Victoria and McCarran International Airport were discontinued and the Toronto-based airline also consolidated routes on its twice-a-week flights between Las Vegas and Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, and Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Saclamacis said the airline is using a larger aircraft on the route and now flies directly from Calgary only. Canada 3000 operated the only nonstop flights between Las Vegas and Victoria, Edmonton and Winnipeg.

A representative of Mexicana Airlines could not be reached for comment on whether the discontinuation of the Mexico City flights is a seasonal or permanent change. Mexicana offered the only nonstop flights to the Mexican capital and continues to fly twice a week between Las Vegas and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Harry Kassap, manager of air service development at McCarran, said most of the seats on the Mexico City-Las Vegas flights were booked by Mexican travel agents and their ability to fill those seats fluctuates as the market changes.

"Mexicana's flights from Mexico City have always been a work in progress," Kassap said, adding that he expects the flights to return when the market improves.

Several airlines repositioned aircraft and juggled schedules in May in preparation for the summer vacation season. The most dramatic changes were made by America West Airlines, which reduced several operations from daily to three or four days a week. The net decrease was a reduction of about two flights a day, resulting in 3.2 percent fewer seats -- about 400 a day average -- coming into Las Vegas.

America West cut its Las Vegas-Reno schedule from one daily flight to four a week. It also dropped one flight a week from its two daily nonstops between Las Vegas and Sacramento, Calif.

The Phoenix-based carrier, the second-busiest airline at McCarran, also reduced operations to three a week between Las Vegas and Dallas, Houston and El Paso, Texas, and Seattle.

American Airlines cut one daily flight between Las Vegas and Los Angeles and Alaska Airlines had a net decrease of about one daily flight by reducing a few flights each week between Las Vegas and Seattle and Portland, Ore. Frontier Airlines cut one flight a week from its schedule between Las Vegas and Denver

But other airlines increased service during the month, bringing the total number of flights to exactly the same amount as it was at the beginning of the month.

Las Vegas-based National Airlines had a net increase of about two daily flights by inaugurating service to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and adding weekly flights to Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Dallas. But it cut some of its operations to Chicago's Midway Airport and Miami.

US Airways, the target of a takeover bid from United Airlines that is losing steam, added one daily flight each between Las Vegas and Philadelphia and Charlotte, N.C.

Aloha Airlines started a daily flight to Orange County, Calif., and Air Canada also added a handful of weekly operations to and from Toronto.

Condor Airlines returned with its seasonal one flight a week between Las Vegas and Frankfurt, Germany, and Mexican carrier Aviacsa increased its flights between Las Vegas and Monterey, Mexico, from four to six a week.

Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier serving McCarran, had no schedule changes during the month and continues to operate about 163 flights a day.