McCarran passenger count falls for 16th month

By Mary Manning

Friday, July 17, 2009 | 4:52 p.m.

Passenger counts at McCarran International Airport dropped in June for the 16th straight month as the Las Vegas economy continued to struggle, according to numbers released this afternoon.

The Clark County Aviation Department reported 3.4 million passengers using McCarran last month, an 11.4 percent decrease from June 2008.

For the year to date, passenger traffic is off 11.8 percent, amounting to 2.7 million fewer passengers traveling through McCarran in the first six months of the year compared to last year.

Southwest Airlines, the busiest carrier at McCarran, showed a 4.2 percent decline in June to 1.3 million passengers. For the year, Southwest's traffic is down 5.1 percent.

Passenger counts using US Airways, the No. 2 operator at McCarran, declined 33 percent for the year, a drop of 37.9 percent this June compared to June 2008.

American Airlines, based in Fort Worth, Texas, showed a monthly and year-to-date rise in passengers with a 15.5 percent increase in June compared to a 4.5 percent increase for this year. Last month's increase translates into 194,382 passengers in June compared to 168,444 for the month in 2008.

United Airlines, the No. 3 carrier at McCarran, was off by 4.2 percent. Overall this year United has been down 10.4 percent in passengers through McCarran.

The year-to-date passenger count at McCarran is down 2.7 million compared to last year, at 20.2 million.