Harry Reid International Airport

Origins

George Crockett, a flight instructor, built Alamo Field in 1942 on the site currently occupied by Harry Reid Airport.^[3][4] Crockett named it in honor of his forefather Davy Crockett, who had fought in the Battle of the Alamo. The airfield opened in January 1943. It catered to general aviation and included three gravel runways, a flight school, and a terminal building.^[3] Meanwhile, all commercial airlines flew into the Las Vegas Army Airfield. They shared the facility with the Army Air Forces, which had been operating an air base there since the attack on Pearl Harbor.^[4][5] The base closed in 1946.^[3]

With the onset of the Cold War, the military said it was amenable to reopening the base, but it wanted the airlines to move elsewhere.^[6] Crockett was willing to let them use his airfield, so the Clark County Commission entered into negotiations with him.^[4] In the meantime, the county held a bond election to fund construction work that would enable Alamo Field to handle commercial operations. Proponents of the bond issue, who included the chamber of commerce and casino executives, sought the economic benefits of both an air base and a modern airport capable of serving the increasing numbers of tourists that they expected to arrive. Voters approved the bond in 1947.^[3][6] With the help of U.S. senator Pat McCarran of Nevada, the county finalized a deal with Crockett to purchase his airfield the following year.^[3][7] On December 19, 1948, the airport was renamed McCarran Field and began receiving passenger flights.^[8]

Expansion

The growth of the Las Vegas casino industry during the 1950s fueled a rise in air traffic; the city went from receiving 36,000 passengers in 1948 to nearly one million in 1959. In September 1960, United Airlines became the first carrier to offer jet flights to Las Vegas.^[9] The airport was ill-equipped to handle the increasing passenger counts and the advent of commercial jetliners. Consequently, the county built a new terminal, which opened in March 1963.^[9][10] Another expansion project, which included adding Concourses A and B and lengthening the runways, ended in 1974.^[11][12] However, traffic levels had already rendered the project insufficient by the time it was completed. Airport officials therefore prepared for further expansion.^[11] The deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 led to an increase in the number of carriers at McCarran and prompted officials to accelerate their expansion plans.^[13] In October 1985, a central terminal, Concourse C, and a people mover between the two buildings opened.^[7][14]

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, America West Airlines was the busiest airline at McCarran.^[15] The carrier began offering cheap night flights to Las Vegas in 1986.^[16] It ultimately developed a hub at the airport that functioned between 10 pm and 2 am every night. The strategy capitalized on the fact that Las Vegas was open 24 hours a day and enabled the airline to decrease costs.^[17][18] America West charged low fares because it was the only carrier operating such a large number of flights at that time of night.^[19] Most of its customers were tourists, while the remainder were changing planes.^[17] By the late 1990s, Southwest Airlines had overtaken America West as McCarran's largest carrier and occupied all the gates in Concourse C. The company's high frequency of flights, cheap tickets, and collaboration with local resorts contributed to its success in the Las Vegas market.^[20][21][22]

Multiple projects were finished during the 1990s. The Charter/International Terminal, later renamed Terminal 2, opened in December 1991.^[7][23] A cargo center was dedicated two years later.^[7] In 1994, a tunnel beneath the east–west runways that linked the airport to the Las Vegas Beltway opened.^[24][25] A nine-level parking facility was completed in 1996, and in June 1998, the first two wings of Concourse D were inaugurated.^[26][27] McCarran also gained its first scheduled flights to Europe and Asia. In November 1996, Condor launched a route to Cologne, and Northwest Airlines commenced service to its hub at Tokyo's Narita Airport in June 1998.^[28][29][30] With the backing of two casinos, National Airlines set up a hub in Las Vegas the following year. The company specialized in low-fare flights to cities on the East Coast. Other casinos responded by arranging package deals with larger airlines. This and other factors led to National's demise in 2002.^[31][32]

Innovation and new terminal

Officials started to introduce new technologies. In the late 1990s, they began following a common-use strategy, where airlines share airport facilities.^[33][34] The airport first deployed computer systems known as common-use terminal equipment (CUTE) at gates and check-in counters. McCarran pioneered the use of CUTE in the domestic terminals of American airports.^[34] In 2003, it became the first airport in the country to install common-use self-service kiosks, which customers use to check in and obtain their boarding passes.^[35][36] With nearly 30 carriers serving McCarran, officials did not want to have separate sets of kiosks for each one. The airport ultimately acquired a reputation in the United States as the model for the common-use approach.^[33] It began implementing a baggage-tracking system based on radio-frequency identification (RFID) in 2005. The technology was intended to facilitate luggage screening and decrease the chances of losing bags.^[36][37] McCarran and the Hong Kong airport were the first to use RFID on a large scale.^[37][38]

In the 2000s, Allegiant Air moved its headquarters from Fresno to Las Vegas. The company also changed its focus to providing nonstop flights between small towns and vacation destinations and expanded the number of cities it served from McCarran to 35.^[39][40] In 2004, Philippine Airlines extended its flight between Manila and Vancouver to Las Vegas. The service was primarily targeted at tourists from western Canada, though the carrier also hoped to attract members of the large Filipino community in Las Vegas.^[41][42] The third wing of Concourse D, along with a ramp control tower, opened in April 2005.^[43] Two years later, a consolidated rental car facility began operations.^[44] The fourth and final wing of Concourse D was added in September 2008.^[45] In the same month, US Airways closed the night hub due to the 2000s energy crisis. The airline had merged with America West in 2005.^[46][47] US Airways shut its crew base at McCarran in 2010.^[48] By 2012, the company had eliminated all routes except for those to its hubs in Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Phoenix and its focus city at Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.^[49][50]

Fearing McCarran would soon exceed its capacity, the Clark County Commission began work on Terminal 3 in 2005. The economy was doing well, and Terminal 2 had become congested. Although the economy later entered a recession, the county chose to proceed with the project.^[51][52] The airport's cargo facility was located within the Terminal 3 site, so it was replaced by the Marnell Air Cargo Center, which opened in 2010.^[53][54] The new terminal was inaugurated in June 2012, replacing Terminal 2.^[51][55] It cost $2.4 billion and was the largest public works project in Nevada.^[56] In 2013, Philippine Airlines discontinued its route to Las Vegas.^[57] A new control tower and Terminal Radar Approach Control facility was completed in 2016.^[58] At 352 feet (107 m) tall, it was the second tallest in the country when completed.^[59][60] The following year, the airport equipped seven gates in Concourse D to receive international flights and built a tunnel to connect them to the customs facility in Terminal 3.^[61][62] LATAM Airlines Brasil added a seasonal route to São Paulo, McCarran's first direct link to South America, in June 2018.^[63][64]

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the control tower was closed for several days after a controller tested positive for the virus, leading to many delays and cancellations.^[65] The following month, the decrease in traffic caused by the pandemic prompted the closure of all the gates in Concourse B and Terminal 3.^[66] In February 2021, the Clark County Commission voted unanimously to rename the airport after U.S. senator Harry Reid of Nevada. The commissioners believed that Pat McCarran had left a legacy of anti-Semitism and racism.^[67][68] The airport was officially renamed ten months later.^[69][70]

Harry Reid International Airport has four runways:^[71]

• 1L/19R: 8,988 by 150 feet (2,740 m × 46 m)
• 1R/19L: 9,771 by 150 feet (2,978 m × 46 m)
• 8L/26R: 14,515 by 150 feet (4,424 m × 46 m)
• 8R/26L: 10,526 by 150 feet (3,208 m × 46 m)

The runways are made of concrete. 1L, 26R, and 26L have a category I instrument landing system with distance measuring equipment.^[71] 8L/26R is the third-longest civil runway in the country.^[72]

The airport has a total of 110 gates across two passenger terminals, which are numbered 1 and 3, and a satellite concourse called Concourse D. Terminal 1 contains three concourses labeled A, B, and C. Terminal 3 houses the E gates and handles international arrivals.^[73] Terminal 3 and Concourse D are able to receive international flights, and a tunnel links the international gates in Concourse D to the customs checkpoint.^[61] There is an airside tram system with three lines. The green and blue lines connect the central part of Terminal 1 with Concourses C and D, respectively. The red line runs between Terminal 3 and Concourse D.^[74]

In 1968, slot machines were first installed at the airport. The Las Vegas and Reno airports are the only two airports in the United States with slot machines.^[75][76] Terminal 1 and Concourse D also house exhibits of the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, which covers the history of aviation in southern Nevada.^[77][78]

Airlines unload their freight at the Marnell Air Cargo Center, which can handle 100,000 short tons (91,000 t) of cargo.^[54] Janet Air flights to secret military installations operate from a dedicated terminal building.^[79] The airport also has a parking lot where the public can watch aircraft take off and land.^[80]

Maverick Helicopters and Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopters each operate their own terminal at Harry Reid Airport for sightseeing flights. The Maverick terminal covers 6,000 square feet (560 m²), and the Sundance terminal occupies 13,000 square feet (1,200 m²). The Papillon terminal was established in 1997.^[81][82][83]

Reid Airport is a base for Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, JSX, Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.^[84]

Passenger

Cargo

In 2023, a record 57.6 million travelers passed through Reid Airport.^[168] The airport also had 612,000 aircraft movements and handled 263 million pounds (119 million kg) of cargo.^[169]

Top destinations

Busiest international routes from LAS (July 2022 – June 2023)^[171]

Rank	City	Passengers	Carriers
1	Toronto–Pearson, Canada	507,718	Air Canada, Canada Jetlines, Flair, Porter, WestJet
2	London–Heathrow, United Kingdom	370,436	British Airways, Virgin Atlantic
3	Mexico City, Mexico	354,991	Aeroméxico, VivaAerobús, Volaris
4	Vancouver, Canada	348,474	Air Canada, Flair, WestJet
5	Calgary, Canada	345,325	Flair, WestJet
6	Guadalajara, Mexico	189,774	Volaris
7	Edmonton, Canada	187,382	Flair, WestJet
8	Montréal–Trudeau, Canada	140,984	Air Canada
9	Amsterdam, Netherlands	118,900	KLM
10	Frankfurt, Germany	101,084	Condor, Discover Airlines

Airline market share

Vehicles reach the airport via Paradise Road and Russell Road from the north and via the Harry Reid Airport Connector, which branches off from the Las Vegas Beltway, from the south.^[173][174] A 5,000-space consolidated rental car facility is located three miles (5 km) away and is linked to the terminals by shuttle buses.^[44] Buses also shuttle passengers between Terminals 1 and 3.^[175] The airport has scarce public transport connections due to being the busiest in the world without an airport rail link. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada's public bus system serves the airport.^[176]

• On the evening of November 15, 1964, Bonanza Air Lines Flight 114, a Fairchild F-27 turboprop flying from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport to McCarran International Airport, crashed into the top of a hill in desert country about eight miles (13 km) SSW of Las Vegas in poor weather conditions, all 26 passengers and three crew perished. The probable cause was the misreading of a faulty, outdated approach chart by the captain which resulted in a premature descent before impacting terrain.^[177]

• Henderson Executive Airport
• List of airports in Nevada
• North Las Vegas Airport
• Transportation in Las Vegas