McCarran International Completes its Busiest Year 

Passenger Traffic Climbs by 3.1 Percent in 2007

McCarran International welcomed approximately 47.7 million arriving and departing passengers last year, making 2007 the busiest year in the airport’s 59-year history. The total marked a 3.1 percent increase from 2006, which was previously McCarran’s busiest year with nearly 46.2 million passengers.  

“The year started off extremely busy,” said Randall H. Walker, director of the Clark County Department of Aviation. “Despite the challenges of processing the millions of passengers, our team remained focused on moving a rising number of air travelers safely and smoothly through McCarran. I’m very proud of what our 1,419 Department of Aviation employees were able to accomplish.”

The allure of visitor attractions coupled with Southern Nevada ’s expanding population have enabled McCarran to set a new annual passenger record each year since 2004. With an eye toward the future, work continued throughout 2007 to expand McCarran’s infrastructure in order to handle additional air traffic growth that’s expected to occur as a result of additional hotel rooms over the next several years.

As part of McCarran’s nearly $4 billion capital improvement program, April 2007 saw the debut of the McCarran Rent-A-Car Center , a nearly $170 million project that placed 11 different car rental companies within one facility. Property adjacent to the airport terminals that previously housed those car rental companies was converted into needed public parking space.

Work continued on the northwest wing of the D concourse, which will include nine additional gates upon its completion this summer. A new C checkpoint annex will bring 12 more security lanes to McCarran later this year as work continues on an adjacent sky bridge that will let passengers walk between than A, B and C concourses without passing through more than one security checkpoint. Last year also saw the relocation of Russell Road , clearing way for work to ramp up on Terminal 3, a $1.8 billion 14-gate complex addition that’s scheduled to open in 2012.

McCarran also enhanced its role as an industry leader in airport technology. Its pioneering use of radio frequency identification tags to track baggage continues to garner international attention, while separately McCarran’s off-airport baggage check-in program, Airport SpeedCheck Advance, continued to add new airline partners. Nearly two-thirds of McCarran passengers can now use the service, which should further ease congestion within McCarran’s terminals over the next few years.

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