Traffic at McCarran up in June

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 11:31 a.m.

The number of passengers flying in and out of Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport increased by 2.3 percent in June over the same month a year ago, the airport reported today.

McCarran reported 3.1 million passengers used the airport in June compared to 3 million in June 2002. For the first six months of 2003, McCarran reported 17.7 million passengers, a 1.9 percent increase over the six-month total of 17.3 million passengers in 2002.

The passenger count for the month is 3.2 percent below the 3.2 million people who flew in and out of McCarran in June 2001, a comparable month prior to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, the busiest commercial air carrier at McCarran, reported more than 1 million passengers in June, a 10 percent increase over the 936,666 reported in June 2002. No. 2 America West Airlines, Tempe, Ariz., reported an 11.6 percent increase in traffic, with 525,945 passengers compared with 471,130 in the previous period.

Traffic decreases were reported by No. 5 Delta Air Lines, which was down 2.5 percent to 202,254 passengers for the month compared with June 2002, and Northwest Airlines, down 1.5 percent to 67,856 passengers in June compared with the same month a year ago.

McCarran also reported a 38.4 percent increase in traffic at its international and charter terminal. But traffic was down 29 percent for commuter flights at the main terminal and down 25.9 percent at the airport's Eagle terminal as airport managers moved smaller planes to airports in Henderson and North Las Vegas.