Harry Reid International Airport

"Las Vegas Airport" redirects here. For the airport in Las Vegas, New Mexico, see Las Vegas Municipal Airport.

Harry Reid International Airport
The airport in 2012
IATA: LAS ICAO: KLAS FAA LID: LAS WMO: 72386
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Clark County, Nevada
Operator	Clark County Department of Aviation
Serves	Las Vegas Valley
Location	Paradise, Nevada, United States
Opened	January 1943 (1943-01)
Operating base for	Allegiant Air Avelo Airlines Frontier Airlines JSX Southwest Airlines Spirit Airlines
Elevation AMSL	2,181 ft / 665 m
Coordinates	36°04′48″N 115°09′08″W
Website	harryreidairport.com
Maps
FAA airport diagram
Runways
Direction Length Surface ft m 1L/19R 8,988 2,740 Concrete 1R/19L 9,771 2,978 Concrete 8L/26R 14,515 4,424 Concrete 8R/26L 10,526 3,208 Concrete
Statistics (2022)
Passengers 52,700,000 Aircraft movements 581,000 Cargo (lb) 261,000,000

Harry Reid International Airport (IATA: LAS, ICAO: KLAS, FAA LID: LAS) is an international airport that serves the Las Vegas Valley, a metropolitan area in Nevada, United States. It is located five miles (8 km) south of downtown Las Vegas in the unincorporated area of Paradise and covers 2,800 acres (11 km²) of land. Reid is owned by Clark County and operated by the county's department of aviation. The airport is named after Harry Reid, who represented Nevada in the United States Senate from 1987 to 2017. It has four runways, two terminals numbered 1 and 3, and a people mover. Reid is one of two airports in the United States with slot machines.

The airport opened in January 1943 and initially catered to general aviation. In December 1948, commercial airlines shifted to the airport from the Las Vegas Army Airfield. Passenger counts increased in the 1950s as the Strip expanded, leading to the construction of a new terminal. Reid later came to be seen as the model for the common-use approach to airport resources in the United States and pioneered radio-frequency identification of baggage. Terminal 3 was added in 2012.

Reid is served by over 30 airlines and is an operating base for Allegiant Air, Avelo Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines. Southwest became its dominant carrier in the 1990s. In 2022, 52.7 million passengers passed through the airport, the most in its history. Reid has international flights to cities in Asia, Europe, and North America.

History

George Crockett, a flight instructor, built Alamo Field in 1942 on the site currently occupied by Harry Reid Airport. 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. 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. The base closed in 1946.

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. Crockett was willing to let them use his airfield, so the Clark County Commission entered into negotiations with him. 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. 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. On December 19, 1948, the airport was renamed for McCarran and began receiving passenger flights.

The growth of the Las Vegas casino industry during the 1950s fueled a rise in air traffic; the city went from receiving thirty-five thousand passengers in 1948 to one million in 1959. In September 1960, United Airlines became the first carrier to offer jet flights to Las Vegas. 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. In 1968, slot machines were first installed at the airport. Another expansion project, which included adding Concourses A and B and lengthening the runways, ended in 1974. However, traffic levels had already rendered the project insufficient by the time it was completed. Airport officials therefore prepared for further expansion. 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. In October 1985, a central terminal, Concourse C, and a people mover between the two buildings opened.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, America West Airlines was the busiest airline at McCarran. The carrier began offering cheap night flights to Las Vegas in 1986. 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. America West charged low fares because it was the only carrier operating such a large number of flights at that time of night. Most of its customers were tourists, while the remainder were changing planes. 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.

The airport continued to expand. The Charter/International Terminal opened in December 1991, and a cargo center was dedicated two years later. In June 1998, the first two wings of Concourse D were inaugurated. There were also projects related to ground transportation. In 1994, a tunnel beneath the east–west runways that linked the airport to the Las Vegas Beltway opened. A nine-level parking facility was completed two years later. Meanwhile, McCarran gained its first scheduled flights to Europe and Asia. In November 1996, Condor launched a route to Cologne, and Northwest Airlines commenced service to Tokyo's Narita Airport in June 1998. 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.

Officials started to introduce new technologies. In the late 1990s, they began following a common-use strategy, where airlines share airport facilities. 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. 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. 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. 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. McCarran and the Hong Kong airport were the first to use RFID on a large scale.

Concourse D in 2009 with Terminal 3 under construction in the background

The airport continued work on Concourse D. The third wing, along with a ramp control tower, opened in April 2005; the fourth and final wing, in September 2008. A consolidated rental car facility was completed in 2007. In regard to air service, McCarran acquired another overseas route and lost a hub. 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. Due to the 2000s energy crisis, US Airways closed the night hub in September 2008. The airline had merged with America West in 2005. US Airways shut its crew base at McCarran in 2010. 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.

After finishing Concourse D, McCarran inaugurated Terminal 3 in June 2012. The building replaced Terminal 2, formerly called the Charter/International Terminal. Other facilities were constructed as well. The Marnell Air Cargo Center opened in 2010, and a new control tower was completed in 2016. 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. LATAM Airlines Brasil added a seasonal route to São Paulo, McCarran's first direct link to South America, in June 2018.

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. The following month, the decrease in traffic caused by the pandemic prompted the closure of all the gates in Concourse B and Terminal 3. 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. The airport was officially renamed ten months later.

Facilities

Baggage claim carousels in Terminal 1

Slot machines in Concourse A

Harry Reid International Airport has four runways:

• 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. 8L/26R is the third-longest civil runway in the country.

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. 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. 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.

Slot machines are located throughout the terminals. The Las Vegas and Reno airports are the only two airports in the United States with slot machines. Reid Airport also houses exhibits of the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, which covers the history of aviation in southern Nevada.

Airlines unload their freight at the Marnell Air Cargo Center, and Janet Air flights to secret military installations operate from a dedicated terminal building. The airport also has a parking lot where the public can watch aircraft take off and land.

Airlines and destinations

As of November 2023, 32 airlines fly to Las Vegas. The airport serves as a base for Allegiant Air, Avelo Airlines, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines. It has direct flights to countries in Asia, Europe, and North America. In 2022, Reid received a record 52.7 million passengers. Southwest was the busiest carrier, and WestJet transported the most international travelers. The top domestic destination was Los Angeles; the top foreign one, Toronto's Pearson Airport. The airport also had 581,000 aircraft movements and handled 261 million pounds (118 million kg) of cargo.

Ground transportation

Vehicles reach Harry Reid Airport via Paradise Road and Russell Road from the north and via the airport connector, which branches off from the Las Vegas Beltway, from the south. The Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada's public bus system serves the airport. A consolidated rental car facility is located three miles (5 km) away and is linked to the terminals by shuttle buses. Buses also transport passengers between Terminals 1 and 3.

Accidents and incidents

• 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.

See also

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

References

Works cited

• Bubb, Daniel K. (2012). Landing in Las Vegas: Commercial Aviation and the Making of a Tourist City. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 978-0-87417-872-2.
• Moehring, Eugene P. (2000). Resort City in the Sunbelt: Las Vegas, 1930–2000. University of Nevada Press. ISBN 0-87417-356-6.
• Moehring, Eugene P.; Green, Michael S. (2005). Las Vegas: A Centennial History. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press. ISBN 0-87417-615-8.
• Wright, Frank (2005). Nevada Yesterdays: Short Looks at Las Vegas History. Las Vegas, NV: Stephens Press. ISBN 1-932173-27-7. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2016.

External links

• Official website
• FAA Airport Diagram (PDF), effective June 13, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for LAS, effective June 13, 2024
• Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum Archived May 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine — Official site

• Resources for this airport:
  • AirNav airport information for KLAS
  • ASN accident history for LAS
  • FlightAware airport information and live flight tracker
  • NOAA/NWS weather observations: current, past three days
  • SkyVector aeronautical chart for KLAS
  • FAA current LAS delay information