McCarran passenger traffic falls 8.6 percent

By Tim Richardson

Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008 | 2:31 p.m.

Traffic at McCarran International Airport last month was down 8.6 percent compared to a year earlier, according to numbers released today.

Airport officials said 3,923,469 passengers arrived at McCarran or departed from the airport in July. That's down from 4,293.467 in July 2007.

The July drop was steeper than the average drop reported in the first half of the year. McCarran has seen a 4 percent drop year-to-date in the number of passengers using the airport -- from 27,978,839 passengers by the end of July last year to 26,862,616 this year.

Each of the five busiest airlines serving the airport also reported declines in traffic.

Southwest Airlines, which serviced 36 percent of airport passengers last month, saw a 5.6 percent drop in traffic compared to July 2007. U.S. Airways, the airport's second-largest carrier, reported a 17.3 percent drop -- and a 21.2 percent drop year-to-date.