Passenger traffic at Harry Reid International Airport continued to decline despite a modest rise in international arrivals and departures, according to data released by the Clark County Department of Aviation.
The airport served 4.4 million passengers in July, a 7.57% decline from July 2025. That followed a 9.3% year-over-year decline in June as Reid International Airport welcomed 4.28 million passengers.
Of the total number in July, there were 4 million domestic passengers in and out of the airport, an 8.7 percent drop from July 2025. International travel continued its positive trend, bringing 296,499 passengers to Las Vegas, a 6 percent increase over July 2025.
For the first seven months of the year, there were a total 30.2 million passengers, a 6.9% decline from the previous year. Of that, 27.8 million were domestic passengers, down 6.8%, and 1.9 million international travelers, down 8.6%, according to the Department of Aviation.
According to figures released Wednesday, Frontier Airlines continued to see an increase in demand, with 460,521 customers in July, up 35.8% from the same month a year ago. For the first seven months of 2026, Frontier posted a 16.6% increase in passengers to 2.57 million.
“It’s difficult to pinpoint any one specific cause” for the decline, Amanda Mazzagatti, spokeswoman for Harry Reid International Airport and the Clark County Department of Aviation, said Thursday. “The decline of Spirit Airlines does play a role, but it is one of several variables, and there are some broader trends we’ve been seeing.”
Mazzagatti explained that Spirit’s downsizing was a gradual process over the past several years, including two bankruptcy proceedings. By the time of its liquidation, the airline not longer had the market presence it did at its peak.
In April and May, Mazzagatti said, Spirit served 12 direct markets from Reid Airport.
“Each of those markets continues to be severed by at least one other airline, with some markets now served by as many as four carriers,” she said. “When Spirit scaled back its operations in 2025, capacity at (the airport) declined by roughly 2 million seats. However, about half of that reduction, approximately 1 million seats, was replaced by other airlines.
“So, while Spirits reduction has had an impact, other carriers have absorbed a significant portion of that lost capacity,” she added.
Mazzagatti said the airport is also seeing broader shift in the international tourism market.
“Fuel costs, for example, are prompting airlines to take a closer look at routes and frequencies and focus capacity where they see the strongest return on investment,” Mazzagatti told CDC Gaming in an email.”Ultimately, there are a number of factors influencing passenger numbers, including changes in airline capacity, the international tourism market and individual carrier decisions.”
Of the five commercial air carriers serving Reid Airport, only Delta Airlines had fewer passengers for the first seven months of the year. Delta’s passenger count declined 2.8% to just over 3 million.
Southwest Airlines, the largest operator at Reid, reported 12.6 million passengers for the first seven months, up 0.2 percent from 12.5 million in the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile, United Airlines posted a 6.1% increase to 2.67 million, while American Airlines reported a small decline of 0.6% to 2.59 million passengers through July 31, compared to the same period a year ago.
Of the international carriers serving Las Vegas, three airlines posted double-digit percentage increases in July, with Copa Airlines, a Panamanian-flagged airline, up 38.8% to 8,729 passengers, Mexican airline Volaris up 38.6 percent to 39,872, and Air Canada up 11.5 percent to 40,701 passengers.
The largest percentage decline by an international carrier was reported by Aero México, whose passenger count declined 50.5% to 8,328 in July compared to 16,810 in July 2025.
