McCarran faces $100 million question

Figuring out how to process an expanding influx of foreign air travelers is the type of problem most tourist destinations would gladly welcome.

Good problem or otherwise, overcoming that obstacle has become this years $100 million to $150 million question for the operators of McCarran International Airport.

Clark County Aviation Director Randall Walker said this week that his department is considering shifting most of McCarrans international air service to the airports proposed Terminal 3, a $1 billion expansion scheduled to open off Russell Road in mid-2010.

The airport now requires those entering or leaving the country through Las Vegas to pass through Terminal 2, a 13-year-old building located north of McCarrans main complex. That eight-gate terminal, half of which handles domestic flights, is home to the airports sole U.S. Customs & Border Protection processing station.

Despite an 18-month customs expansion completed in late 2002, newly upgraded eateries and part of a $125 million in-line baggage screening system now under construction, some worry Las Vegas increasing popularity among foreigners could soon overcrowd Terminal 2s capacity.

Such a problem could be prevented by incorporating a larger international gateway into plans for Terminal 3, but Walker said that decision is complicated by uncertainties surrounding a major passenger airport proposed for nearby Ivanpah Valley.

You never want to be in a position to tell (an airline) they cant come here because we dont have room for them. At the same time, you dont want to build an expensive project if its not necessary. Were trying to find that balance, Walker said.

A decision on the $100 million to $150 million Terminal 3 international gateway must be reached by early summer if designs for the project are to be completed without significant scheduling disruptions.

Most of Las Vegas foreign visitors arrive after entering the United States in another city, though several carriers operate scheduled round-trip service from cities in Canada, Mexico, Japan and the United Kingdom.

Philippine Airlines operates four weekly flights by way of Vancouver, British Columbia, while charter operators like Montreal-based Jetsgo and Germanys Condor routinely ferry passenger to Las Vegas directly from other countries.

In addition, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, Nevada Commission on Tourism and several local hotel-casino operators have in recent years expanded efforts to draw guests from Asia, South America and other emerging travel markets. That strategy will likely bring additional air service from foreign destinations in years to come.

An estimated 2.49 million international visitors came to Las Vegas in 2003, the most recent data available. That includes direct arrivals, as well as travelers who drove or flew here after stops in other U.S. cities.

The Clark County Aviation Department has long intended to shift the majority of Las Vegas long-haul international flights to Ivanpah, reasoning those who have spent several hours on planes to reach Las Vegas plan to spend several days here. Such travelers, its assumed, would more willingly accept that airports required 40-mile journey to the Strip than would travelers arriving on shorter flights from Southern California or Arizona, for example.

Likewise, the Ivanpah airport will be able to handle the new Airbus A380, a massive 555-seat passenger jet some experts believe will soon become the aviation industrys workhorse for long-haul international service. The plane is too large for McCarran, which will not change its runways and infrastructure for the A380 since most traffic there involves smaller jets such as Southwest Airlines favored Boeing 737, which carries up to 137 passengers.

While Walker and company are certain a second airport will be needed to support McCarran, which can effectively accommodate 53 million passengers per year (it handled nearly 41.5 million in 2004, a 57-year record), no one can say when, or if, the Ivanpah project will receive required approvals from the federal government.

The county hopes to open Ivanpah airports first phase by 2017, but Walker said more delays would increase the need for a new international terminal.

www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2005/Feb...business/543131.html


Ich persönlich finde Mc Carran eigentlich völlig ausreichend (vor 9/11) , ich habe es aber auch noch nie geschafft , Nonstop aus Deutschland von - oder nach Vegas zu fliegen