It wasn’t Las Vegas that alienated our Canadian neighbors with silly talk about making Canada the 51st state and imposing 25 percent trade tariffs, but it cost the tourism destination an 8 percent decline in air passenger capacity in the second half of 2025.
Overall, Las Vegas lost 1.2 million passenger seats in 2025, Joel Van Over, senior director at Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting, informs the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board of directors at its Jan. 13 regular meeting.
That’s coming off a record 35.4 million seat capacity in 2024, so it’s not like the sky is falling, Van Over comforts.
“We really did a lot of things to not make our Canadian friends happy. A lot of Canadians are shying away from the U.S.,” he says. “It’s going to take a while to come back from this. There’s really not a lot we can do.”
Well, then, let’s not spit on the French. The brightest airline news for Las Vegas this year: Air France launches nonstop flights from Paris to Harry Reid International Airport.
A premier global airline, Air France announced three weekly direct flights for CES, then extended the service through October. Now it’s scheduled through January 2027, according to Van Over. “This is huge for Las Vegas,” he exclaims, citing a one-stop connection to 120 international markets through Paris.
The decline in air passenger capacity was anticipated in the beginning of 2025 when “value” airlines were struggling, the consultant notes. Spirit and Frontier airlines pulled 8,180 seats a day out of Las Vegas. Spirit filed for bankruptcy twice in less than a year and Frontier CEO Barry Biffle resigned in December amidst disastrous financial results.
Allegiant Airlines announced a $1.5 billion acquisition of Sun Country just days before the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) meeting, and Van Over believes the transaction should benefit Las Vegas. Allegiant is headquartered in Las Vegas, and Harry Reid serves as its hub airport.
Las Vegas was able to “backfill” about half of the lost passenger seats, he adds, but it may not stick if demand isn’t there.
“What can we do? Maintain connectivity, get into other markets, and get other airlines to come to Las Vegas,” Van Over concludes.
BODY CAMERAS
The board approved a five-year, $486,000 contract with Axon Enterprise to equip LVCVA armed security guards with body-worn cameras. While the action was not in response to any particular incident at Las Vegas Convention Center, it will protect the convention authority against “false allegations,” says Chris Comstock, vice president of security.
LVCVA selected three vendors in 2025 to participate in a month-long pilot program to test the viability of body-worn cameras for the officers, testing data storage, battery life and product support. Based in Scottsdale, Ariz., Axon provides body cams for many police departments throughout the United States, including Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
In other agenda action, the board approved $746,0000 for Las Vegas Monorail liability insurance with Westchester Insurance Group, a Chubb Company, through Dec. 10, 2026. The rate increased 3.3 percent from a year ago.
