Las Vegas Considering a Second Airport

If you ever fly into Las Vegas, you probably notice the airport is one of the busiest in the country. The combination of the city being one of the fastest-growing cities in the past few decades and the tourism business booming has caused the airport to become too small to handle the traffic. City officials have deliberated a solution, and now Clark County Airport Strategic Planning Manager Roben Armstrong says this is the time to start adding a second Las Vegas airport.

Exponential growth requires expansion

Since 2010, Reid International (formerly known as McCarran airport went through a name change last month) has seen a steady growth of passengers, from 39 million to a record 51 million in 2019. After the pandemic setback, the airport is right back where it was. The airport is the seventh busiest airport in the country. Even though Las Vegas is only the 27th largest city, it has seen 30 percent growth in the last decade. 

“We are growing,” Armstrong told the TV station. “We are landlocked, so there’s only so much room for expansion. We’re basically capped at this point.”

Plans for a second Las Vegas airport are taking shape

Armstrong presented preliminary plans to the Clark County Commission last month. “As long as the projected growth continues as it has been and demand continues, then the need will be there,” she said. “We will serve the same clients at that airport that we do here now.”

Since the 1940s, Reid International Airport sat on the city’s outskirts, but the growth saw hotels, restaurants, casinos, and residential neighborhoods creep closer and closer. Even though the airport has been steadily expanding since the 90s, there is no more room to grow. 

Clark County owns 6,000 acres in the Ivanpah Valley, about 40 minutes from the city, where the plans are taking shape. The county could purchase an additional 17,000 acres surrounding it to ensure future expansion is possible. Officials believe the airport is still 15 years in the future, but the plans are still developing.