McCarran sees 5 percent increase in January passenger traffic

By Kyle B. Hansen

Friday, Feb. 18, 2011 | 12:10 p.m.

McCarran International Airport has started the year with a 5 percent increase in passengers compared to the same month last year.

The airport said it had 3,165,368 arriving and departing passengers in January 2011, while the airport had 3,015,368 passengers in January 2010.

It’s good news for the airport, which has seen decreasing passenger counts since hitting a peak of more than 47.7 million in 2007. Last year’s decrease was the smallest in three years since the recession began.

Some of the airport’s busiest air carriers had growth last month, with Southwest, the largest of the group, serving 1,276,960 passengers, a 5.6 percent increase from the previous January.

Delta, the second busiest airline at McCarran, carried 328,250 passengers, a 4.4 percent increase, but U.S. Airways, which has significantly reduced flights to and from Las Vegas, had a 12.8 percent decrease in passengers, with 203,010 served in January.

American, the fourth place airline, carried 199,231 passengers last month, an 11.6 percent increase, while United served 184,831 passengers, a 0.9 percent decrease.

Las Vegas-based Allegiant Air also had a strong month, serving 150,039 passengers in January, a 13.9 percent increase from the previous January.