Las Vegas traffic climbing back, partly thanks to Allegiant
The deep year-on-year declines in Las Vegas' air travel market could be abating. McCarran International Airport reported passenger numbers fell 11.8% year-on-year to 3.6 million last month - the mildest reduction since August 2008 - and a reasonable result considering Easter fell in March last year.
Allegiant Air, which this week unveiled superb profitability amid the downturn, continues to take market share from its rivals at the gambling mecca.
Allegiant stated that deep discounts on hotel rooms and other services had stimulated demand to Vegas recently, which had bolstered its load factors. The LCC last month handled 515,298 passengers, up 20.9% year-on-year, with an industry-leading 92.3% load factor, up 1.5 ppts.
Las Vegas McCarran International Airport passenger number growth: Apr-08 to Mar-09
Source: Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation & Company report