Las Vegas’ airport opened to airline flights in 1948, and obviously a lot has changed since then. For one, it’s no longer McCarran International Airport, as it was known until Clark County changed the name in 2021.
In March, workers demolished the concrete signs bearing McCarran’s name on Tropicana Avenue and Sunset Road. (For years, advocates had called for the airport’s renaming after the late Sen. Pat McCarran, who secured federal funding to originally build the airport, came under scrutiny for a track record of antisemitism and racism.)
New signs bear the new name Harry Reid International Airport, in honor of the former Senate Majority Leader who represented Nevada in Congress from 1983 to 2017. Reid expressed gratitude for the honor and died months later in December 2021.
It’s the latest of many updates that have created the airport before us today, which welcomed a record 52.6 million passengers in 2022. Over the years, it has evolved to meet the needs of the fast-growing Valley and its hospitality and tourism industries, which are only expected to keep growing, thanks in part to the recent introduction of professional sports teams and events like November’s Formula One auto race and the 2024 Super Bowl.
The next big update? Upgrades to the baggage system and other infrastructure that Rosemary Vassiliadis, Clark County’s director of aviation, refers to as “aging.”
“Last year, Harry Reid International Airport served a record 52.6 million passengers, and a vast majority of those used our baggage systems,” Vassiliadis says. “This heavily utilized equipment has been in place for nearly two decades. … Like any machinery, there is expected wear and tear after years of this volume.”
Upgrades will allow for “a more seamless experience for the traveler as their bags are being processed and delivered to them,” Vassiliadis continues. “This will also enhance the reliability, energy efficiency and sustainability of the systems.”
In February, Sen. Jacky Rosen announced that $31 million had been secured for Harry Reid airport upgrades through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Officials have said the project is expected to begin later this year.
Approaching capacity?
The heavy passenger volume of 2022, in which the single-month passenger record was broken three times, is a welcome sign that Southern Nevada has largely bounced back since the 2020 pandemic shutdown. At the same time, it serves as a warning that Clark County might need to move faster toward building another commercial airport, if future visitation continues as projected.
On the current trajectory, officials estimate that Harry Reid could reach its capacity of 63 to 65 million passengers by 2030. As Vassiliadis points out, “Harry Reid International Airport sits on a finite plot of land … [so] there is no more room to physically expand.”
That makes the area’s other airports—Henderson Executive Airport (HND) and North Las Vegas Airport (VGT)— “more important than ever,” according to a February 6 press release from Harry Reid International Airport.
“These reliever airports play a crucial role in supporting general aviation activities, which allows LAS to maximize its commercial operations,” the statement explained.
Meanwhile, a second commercial airport has been in the works for some time. In 2000, the Ivanpah Valley Airport Public Lands Transfer Act tapped more than 6,000 acres of land for an airport some 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas. Over the years, Clark County has shelved the project and picked it back up several times, as the economy, funding and air travel trends and projections have fluctuated.
Officials say the competition of the Ivanpah airport will be crucial in preventing constraints arising from Harry Reid reaching capacity, but Vassiliadis projects an opening date of 2037 at the earliest. What happens between 2030 and that point?
“The number of passengers at which the airport will have constrained operations has changed over the years,” Vassiliadis notes. “A decade ago, the projection was 53 million after the opening of Terminal 3. [So] it is important to note that 2030 is a moving target, along with the 63 to 65 million passengers projection, because our industry continues to evolve.”
Whatever that number becomes, what happens when it’s eclipsed? “We can and will be able to serve passengers at LAS beyond 65 million, but we will potentially see impacts to that efficiency our customers enjoy,” Vassiliadis says. “This means we could experience operational flight delays, longer waits for gate availability, congested roadways heading into the airport.
“[But] technology is constantly advancing,” she adds, so new developments improving aviation efficiency in aviation could factor in when planning for future passenger volumes in Southern Nevada. For example, “newer aircraft have more seats, meaning airlines can serve more passengers without having to add another flight,” she says.
Harry Reid could also work with airlines to “smooth out” peak operation hours and schedule flights during less-busy times, “something we have successfully done in the past few years as we have seen continuous growth,” Vassiliadis says.
During that period of that growth, the only constant has been change, and Vassiliadis says the airport has risen to each occasion and will continue to do so. “LAS was the first, large airport to recover post-pandemic, showing once again the enduring strength of this destination,” she says.
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