McCarran International Las Vegas (LAS) Airport Guide

Since Las Vegas is most ideally suited for long weekends and quick getaways, nearly every visitor to Sin City arrives by air at McCarran International Airport. Las Vegas is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations, so its airport has an extensive schedule of daily flights to and from cities around the globe.

Each year, McCarran handles nearly 40 million passengers who fly on the 31 different carriers providing service to Las Vegas. There are dozens of direct flights from within the US and Canada as well as a handful of non-stop flights from the UK and other international destinations. Southwest operates the most flights in and out of Las Vegas Airport, followed by US Airways, United Airways and Delta Air Lines.

International travellers will likely need to make at least one connection to reach Las Vegas from their home airport. UK travellers, however, are able to take advantage of two daily non-stop flights to Vegas. British Airways operates a daily flight departing from London Heathrow at 16:25 and arriving in Las Vegas 10 hours, 30 minutes later.

Virgin Atlantic is the other carrier featuring daily non-stop flights to McCarran International Airport from London Gatwick. Its flight departs Gatwick at 11:25 and arrives 10 hours, 45 minutes later. Twice a week, Virgin runs a non-stop flight from Manchester to Vegas every Sunday and Thursday.

McCarran has two terminals, with a third slated to open in 2012 that will replace Terminal 2. Terminal 1 is the main flight hub, servicing domestic flights, while Terminal 2 handles international and charter flights. Each of the five gates within Terminal 1 has a diverse array of places to eat or grab a snack, from fast food to sit-down restaurants. There are also several options at each gate to catch up on last-minute shopping, from newsstands and gifts to electronic goods. ATMs are on hand next to the business areas.

The international Terminal 2 is much smaller but also contains plenty of options for eating and shopping. There are VIP lounges in both terminals for passengers who need privacy or a quiet place to relax between flights. Wireless internet is available free of charge throughout the airport for anyone with a laptop or mobile device. Since this is Las Vegas, there are slot machines and other gaming devices at every turn. As a nice added feature, the airport maintains several art galleries around the two terminals that showcase permanent exhibits of sculpture and artwork.

One of the great advantages of the airport at Las Vegas is its downtown location. It takes just five minutes in a taxi to reach the Strip and its many resorts. This allows visitors to maximise their time in Vegas as there’s virtually no travel time between the airport and the city. Taxis queue up outside of exits 1 to 4 on the eastern side of Baggage Claim. There is a small surcharge for any fare that originates at the airport but the distance to the resorts is so close that the overall fare is very reasonable.

There is also a thriving shuttle bus sector that operates from the terminal to all the resorts along the Strip and Downtown. The one-way fares per person are reasonable. Each of the shuttle companies also offers private group shuttles for large parties and stretch limousines. The shuttles all wait outside of exits 7 to 13 on the western side of Baggage Claim.

Ten of the leading car hire firms have offices outside of the Baggage Claim area for travellers who prefer to have their own transportation. Driving from the airport into the city is easy as highways, roads and exits are well-marked. Public transport via the bus also runs to the airport for those who are travelling light.