Gaming briefs for Jan. 23, 2004

Friday, Jan. 23, 2004 | 11:20 a.m.

Passenger count tops 36 million

An 8.1 percent boost in passenger traffic in December over the previous year pushed the annual total to more than 36 million people who used McCarran International Airport in 2003, Clark County Department of Aviation officials said.

McCarran officials said 2.9 million people used the airport in December, up from 2.7 million people in December 2002.

The increase -- attributed, in part, to December 2002 figures being weakened by the shutdown of National Airlines that year -- resulted in 36.3 million people using McCarran in 2003, a 3.6 percent increase over the 35 million people who used it the previous year.

The top five airlines using McCarran reported increased traffic in 2003, including No. 2 carrier America West, which had double-digit percentage increases in December over the previous year and for all of 2003 compared with last year.

The Tempe, Ariz.-based carrier carried 6.1 million passengers to Las Vegas in 2003, a 10.8 percent increase over the 5.5 million served in 2002. McCarran's busiest carrier, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, had 11.7 million Las Vegas passengers in 2003, up 8.4 percent from the 10.8 million the previous year.

Group offers to buy hotel

WEST BADEN SPRINGS, Ind. -- A group of investors seeking a license to operate a casino in Orange County has offered $30 million for the historic West Baden Springs Hotel.

Tranchant Indiana made the offer Wednesday. The group is affiliated with Groupe Tranchant, a French company that operates 20 casinos in France and four in other countries.

The hotel purchase is contingent on Tranchant Indiana receiving the operating permit for the state's 11th casino. The other applicants include Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, Las Vegas casino giant Caesars Entertainment and a group led by Indiana Pacers President Larry Bird.

"A year ago we were so concerned we would never have this opportunity, that it would never come," said Adina Cloud, vice president of the French Lick-West Baden Springs Historic Hotel Preservation Commission.

In November, residents of the economically depressed county voted nearly 2-to-1 in favor of allowing a casino. It is to be built on an artificial waterway between the hotel in West Baden Springs and another hotel in nearby French Lick.