Las Vegas is still a long way away from recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it could get some much-needed help starting next year. Four airlines have announced that they are going to add new routes into McCarran International Airport in Sin City, which should help it begin to attract more gamblers from around the country. The rollout will be staggered, with different airlines launching their new routes across several months.
Frontier Airlines announced this week that it will start offering flights into McCarran next March. Frontier is going to put up six new nonstop flights beginning March 12, about the same time the COVID-19 vaccine is expected to have been made readily available across the country. The new routes will come by way of El Paso, Texas, Little Rock, Arkansas, Wichita, Kansas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma in the US, as well as Los Cabos and Puerto Vallarta in Mexico.
The airport’s chief marketing officer, Chris Jones, said in a statement about the new Frontier flights, These new routes not only support travelers’ enduring desire to experience Las Vegas, but also the belief that we will be a leading destination as air travel picks up.”
JetBlue wasn’t going to be left out in the cold, so it announced that it will start offering flights from Cancun, Mexico and Raleigh, North Carolina on March 4. That same day, according to a previous announcement by Allegiant Air, there will be a new route to Vegas from Flint, Michigan. Alaska Airlines is giving those trapped in the frigid weather of the state a chance to escape and will launch flights to McCarran starting May 20.
Las Vegas will welcome any visitors it can get. October saw just two million visitors pass through the airport, less than half it welcomed a year earlier. That figure is the highest McCarran has been able to report since Vegas casinos began to turn off their lights this past March because of the coronavirus. The VP of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention Center and Visitors Authority, H. Fletch Brunelle, welcomes the news from the airlines, stating earlier this week, “We believe that in the new year people will be eager to travel, and these new nonstop routes will be incredibly popular with repeat and first-time visitors looking for a convenient and affordable getaway to Las Vegas.”
Currently, Las Vegas casinos are still required to limit casino floor activity to just 25% of their regular capacity. This is going to continue to force revenue to a virtual standstill, compounded by the fact that many hotels have begun to shut down during the week because of the lack of traffic. Even though the Christmas and New Year holiday weekends are almost here, these won’t do much to reverse the losses reported by Vegas for almost all of 2020.
