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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; 81 years ago (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 / 36.08000°N 115.15222°W / 36.08000; -115.15222
Website	harryreidairport.com
Map
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 (1,100 ha) 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 as the Strip expanded in the 1950s, leading to the construction of a new terminal. In the 1990s and 2000s, Reid was among the first airports in the country to implement common-use technology and 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 Charter/International Terminal opened in December 1991, and a cargo center was dedicated in April 1993. In December 1994, a tunnel beneath the east–west runways that linked the airport to the Las Vegas Beltway opened. In November 1996, a nine-level parking facility was completed, and Condor launched a flight to Cologne, McCarran's first scheduled service to Europe. The first route to Asia, a Northwest Airlines flight to Tokyo's Narita Airport, commenced in June 1998. That month also saw the inauguration of the first two wings of Concourse D.

New technologies were introduced in the 1990s and 2000s. McCarran pioneered common-use technology in American airports. In the late 1990s, it deployed computer systems known as common-use terminal equipment to allow airlines to share gates and check-in counters. The airport started installing common-use self-service kiosks in 2003. Multiple airlines shared the kiosks, which customers used 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. In 2005, the airport began implementing a baggage-tracking system based on radio-frequency identification (RFID). The technology was intended to facilitate luggage screening and decrease the chances of losing bags. McCarran was the first airport in the United States to use RFID on a large scale.

In March 2004, Philippine Airlines extended its flight between Manila and Vancouver to Las Vegas. The route was primarily targeted at tourists from western Canada, though the carrier also hoped to attract members of the large Filipino community in Las Vegas. The third wing of Concourse D and a ramp control tower opened in April 2005, and a consolidated rental car facility was completed in April 2007. The following September, the fourth and final wing of Concourse D was added. 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. US Airways shut its crew base at McCarran in January 2010. By January 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.

The Marnell Air Cargo Center opened in October 2010. In June 2012, Terminal 3 began operations. It replaced Terminal 2, formerly called the Charter/International Terminal. A new control tower was completed in August 2016. The following year, officials 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, the airport'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

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 two passenger terminals with a total of 109 gates. Terminal 1 contains 95 gates across four concourses, which are labeled A, B, C, and D. Terminal 3 has 14 gates known as the E gates and handles international arrivals. Seven gates in Terminal 3 and seven in Concourse D are able to receive international flights. 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. Terminal 1 houses exhibits of the Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum, which covers the history of aviation in southern Nevada.

Other facilities include the Marnell Air Cargo Center. 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

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67. Brean, Henry (January 11, 2018). "Secret Las Vegas airline posted job ad for trips to Area 51". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
68. Clemons, Marvin (June 30, 2022). "Las Vegas airport viewing lot reopens today". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
69. "Airline information". Harry Reid International Airport. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
70. • For Allegiant, see Bailey, Jeff (September 21, 2006). "Flying Where Big Airlines Aren't". The New York Times. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
    • For Avelo, see "Avelo Airlines launches new hub at Las Vegas airport with additional routes". KSNV. September 7, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
    • For Frontier, see Hardee, Howard (November 21, 2023). "Frontier seeks further foothold in Midwest USA with trio of planned crew bases". FlightGlobal. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
    • For Southwest and Spirit, see Velotta, Richard N. (February 7, 2012). "Spirit Airlines' Las Vegas crew base up and running". Vegas Inc. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
71. Velotta, Richard N. (February 7, 2023). "It's official: 2022 was record year for traffic at Reid Airport". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
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73. "International_Report_Passengers". United States Department of Transportation. October 16, 2023. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
74. "Monthly airport traffic report: December 2022" (PDF). Harry Reid International Airport. Retrieved November 27, 2023.
75. "Harry Reid International Airport" (Map). Google Maps. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
76. Akers, Mick (August 16, 2020). "McCarran airport tunnel speed limit drops to improve safety". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
77. "Airport transit routes". Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
78. "Inter-terminal shuttle". Harry Reid International Airport. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
79. Accident description for N745L at the Aviation Safety Network

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 November 28, 2024
• FAA Terminal Procedures for LAS, effective November 28, 2024
• Howard W. Cannon Aviation Museum Archived May 6, 2013, at the Wayback Machine — Official site
• Jeppesen airport diagrams for 1955 and 1966

• 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

• Aviation

• Harry Reid International Airport
• 1942 establishments in Nevada
• Airports established in 1942
• Airports in Clark County, Nevada
• Buildings and structures in Paradise, Nevada
• Transportation in the Las Vegas Valley
• Airports in Nevada