by Ray Smith
Air service to Las Vegas rebuilt to record levels in 2022, according to a report from Ailevon Pacific Aviation Consulting presented to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority board in January.
Annual inbound seats increased by 1.89 million, a record for airline capacity at Harry Reid International Airport, formerly called McCarran International Airport. That’s 5,200 more seats arriving each day, with most of the growth coming from Southwest Airlines and ultra low-cost carriers, the consulting agency says.
The economic impact of new air service in 2022 is estimated at $1.82 billion. Airlines serving Harry Reid International recovered faster than any of the 20 largest US airports.
“The past few years’ air service story for Las Vegas is really incredible,” says Joel Van Over, senior director at Ailevon Pacific.
Other highlights from the 2022 report:
- Las Vegas averaged more than 82,000 inbound daily seats domestically, and 4,500 inbound daily seats from international markets.
- The outlook for 2023 is bright. March 2023 will be near record capacity levels with an anticipated 96,579 daily inbound seats.
- Capacity growth will continue into the first two quarters of 2023. This is propelled by strong demand for Las Vegas coupled with Canadian growth (new airlines), and slight year-over-year growth from Europe and Latin America.
- Three new airlines launched service to Las Vegas in 2022, adding 310,000 seats annually. They are Breeze, Jetlines and Lynx Air.
- Ten different airlines added 36 new markets (17 previously unserved). Eight new international markets were announced or started by six different airlines.
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority works with Ailevon Pacific to increase domestic and international air seat capacity for the destination. Ongoing efforts include identifying areas of growth and concern, hosting airline summits and events, attending airline conferences and leveraging airline relationships thorough joint venture partnerships.
