McCarran International Airport is the principal airport serving Las Vegas, Nevada, and its metropolitan area. It is ranked as one of the busiest airports in the world, ranking 12th with 36,265,932 passengers passing through the terminal in 2003. Located five miles (eight kilometers) south of downtown Las Vegas, it is now located very close to the major hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas Strip.

McCarran International Airport uses the IATA Airport Code LAS and the ICAO airport code KLAS. America West Airlines uses McCarran as secondary hub. It is also Allegiant Air's main hub, just as Southwest Airlines has a hub and the most departures for Southwest are there..

McCarran Airport is unique in that it has more than 1,000 slot machines throughout the airport terminals.

History

American aviator George Crockett, a descendant of frontiersman Davy Crockett, established Alamo Airport in 1942 on the site currently occupied by the current McCarran International. In 1948, Clark County purchased the airfield from Crockett to establish the Clark County Public Airport, and all commercial operations moved to the site of this airport. Later that year, the airport was renamed McCarran Field for U.S. Senator Pat McCarran, a longtime Nevada politician who authored the Civil Aeronautics Act and played a major role in developing aviation nationwide.

The present terminals were moved from Las Vegas Boulevard South to Paradise Road in 1963. By this time, the airport was serving 1.5 million passengers a year. As tourism continued to rise dramatically, an expansion plan was put into place in 1978 to expand capacity by building more terminals, parking, runways, and passenger facilities. The completion of the newest expansion, the D gates, would allow McCarran to handle 55 million passengers annually.

Terminals

McCarran International Airport has two passenger terminals.

• Terminal 1 handles all domestic flights (except for ATA) and contains 77 gates in four lettered concourses (A, B, C, and D). A people mover system connects concourses C and D with the main terminal.
• Terminal 2 is a separate terminal with 8 gates, that handles all international and charter flights (except for Champion Air) into Las Vegas.

Terminal 1

Gates A

• Alaska Airlines Gates A21-A24 (Anchorage, Portland (OR), Seattle Tacoma, Vancouver)
• America West Airlines (Departures/Arrivals) Gate A3, A5, A7, A10, A12, and A14 (Atlanta, Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Cabo San Lucas, Chicago O'Hare, Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Columbus, Dallas Ft. Worth, Denver, Detroit, Edmonton, Ft. Lauderdale, Fresno, Hartford, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis St. Paul, New York Kennedy, Newark, Oakland, Ontario, Orange County (Santa Ana), Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, Reno, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Seattle, Spokane, Tampa, Tucson, Washington Reagan)
• Champion Air (Charters)
• Continental Airlines Gates A17-A19 (Cleveland, Houston Intercontinental, Newark)
• JetBlue Airways Gate A15 (New York Kennedy, Oakland, Orlando, Rochester, Salt Lake City, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Syracuse, Tampa, Washington DC Dulles, West Palm Beach)

Gates B

• America West (Departures/Arrivals) Gates B1-B25 (SEE ABOVE)
• British Airways

Gates C

• Aloha Airlines Gate C1 (Honolulu)
• America West All Gates (Arrivals Only)
• Southwest Airlines All Gates (Albany, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Austin, Baltimore/Washington, Birmingham, Boise, Buffalo, Burbank/Glendale, Chicago Midway, Cleveland, Columbus, El Paso, Ft. Lauderdale, Hartford, Houston Hobby, Indianapolis, Jackson, Kansas City, Little Rock, Long Island Islip, Los Angeles, Louisville, Lubbock, Manchester (NH), Midland/Odessa, Nashville, New Orleans, Norfolk, Oakland, Omaha, Ontario, Orange County (Santa Ana), Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (OR), Providence, Ralieigh-Durham, Reno, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose (CA), Seattle, Spokane, Tampa, Tucson, Tulsa)

Gates D

• AirTran Airways Gate D32 (Atlanta, Dallas Ft. Worth)
• Allegiant Air Gate D4 (Bellingham, Bismarck, Cedar Rapids, Colorado Springs, Des Moines, Ft. Collins, Fresno, Lansing, Madison, Oklahoma City, Peoria, Sioux Falls, Wichita)
• American Airlines Gates D7, D8, D10, and D11 (Baltimore/Washington, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas Ft. Worth, Los Angeles, Memphis, Miami, San Jose (CA), San Jose de Cabo (MX), St. Louis)
• Delta Airlines Gates D36, D38, and D40-D42 (Atlanta, Cincinnati, Dallas Ft. Worth, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Jackson Hole, New York Kennedy, Norfolk, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Tampa)
• Frontier Airlines Gates D3 and D5 (Denver)
• Midwest Airlines Gate D9 (Milwaukee)
• Northwest Airlines Gates D9, D12, and D14 (Baltimore/Washington, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis St. Paul)
• Delta dba Song Gates D36, D38, D40, and D41 (Boston, Ft. Lauderdale, New York Kennedy, Orlando)
• Spirit Airlines Gate D36 (Detroit, Providence)
• Sun Country Gate D41 (Minneapolis St. Paul)
• United dba Ted Gates D33-D35, D37, D39, and D43 (Chicago O'Hare, Denver, Ft. Lauderdale, Los Angeles. Orlando, San Francisco, Tampa, Washington Dulles)
• SkyWest dba United Express (Fresno, Palm Springs)
• SkyWest dba Delta Connection Gate D36 (Salt Lake City)
• USAirways Gates D1, D3, D5, and D32 (Boston, Charlotte, Ft. Lauderdale, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Providence)

Terminal 2

• AeroMexico (Hermosillo, Mexico City, Monterrey)
• Air Atlanta Europe (Charters)
• Air Canada (Montreal, Toronto)
• Air Transat (Toronto)
• American Trans Air (Chicago Midway, Indianapolis)
• Aviacsa (Mexico City)
• Harmony Airways (Vancouver)
• Hawaiian Airlines (Honolulu)
• Japan Airlines (Tokyo Narita)
• Jetsgo (Toronto)
• Mexicana (Guadalajara, Mexico City)
• MyTravel (Charters)
• Omni Air International (Charters)
• Philippine Airlines (Manila via Vancouver)
• Skyservice (Charters)
• Thomas Cook Airlines (Charters)
• TransMeridian Airlines (Orlando Sanford, Rockford)
• Virgin Atlantic (London Gatwick)

It also is alleged to have a JANET Terminal, which serves the infamous Area 51.

External links

• McCarran International Airport Homepage (http://www.mccarran.com/)