New Airport at Nevada-California State Line?
By Heidi Genoist -- Tradeshow Week, 6/28/2004
Las Vegas—A years-old rumor about a second airport to serve Las Vegas has moved closer to becoming reality — and it could be a boon to the city's already-thriving convention and exhibition business.
Clark County and McCarran Intl. Airport officials have confirmed plans are moving forward for a new airstrip about 45 minutes south of Las Vegas on Interstate 15, near the California border. Although reluctant to give details, a McCarran spokesperson said the project was in the initial planning stage and in mid-June the Clark County Board of Commissioners gave its approval to proceed with public hearings on funding.
Talk of the airport proposal has circulated among tradeshow-industry members for years. Jim Ness, general manager of Freeman Decorating's Las Vegas operations, said he has closely followed the expansion of McCarran since Freeman leased land around the airport for marshaling tradeshow freight. "We were aware they were contemplating a new airport out near (the city of) Jean," Ness said.
Why should the Las Vegas tradeshow business care about an airport in Jean? Because passenger traffic at McCarran is so high that the airport is unable to receive large amounts of cargo — including exhibit freight. Often, shipments destined for Las Vegas are flown to California airports, then trucked to Las Vegas, resulting in higher costs and lower efficiency.
"I think the new airport would be a good thing for tradeshows," Ness said. "If it will make room for additional cargo availability, it's part of the positive growth and expansion moving forward."
Ness added that the new facility wouldn't change systems for tradeshow shipping companies like Freeman Logistics. On the other hand, he believes it could add more opportunity for service providers, since the amount of freight coming directly to shows could increase.
This isn't the first time tradeshows and McCarran passenger traffic have been mentioned in the same context. The airport, just off the Las Vegas Strip, has seen unusually high traffic this year, with April's 3.5 million visitors outdoing the April 2003 number by 23 percent. In January, high visitor volume to Intl. CES — the country's largest annual tradeshow and a Las Vegas institution — was partly blamed for long lines that kept travelers waiting to pass through security checkpoints for as much as four hours.
But by February and MAGIC Marketplace (another top-10 Tradeshow Week 200 event), steps had been taken to alleviate the long lines and the flow of people through McCarran was back to normal.
Still, the county is making plans for the travel rebound it expects to continue. In May, McCarran received a $24.4-million grant for improvements — most to be spent on runway renovation. Construction is already underway for expanded security checkpoints and linking bridges at the C and D gates.
As for the new airport: Don't expect it to open any time soon. The estimated time frame, from planning through building, could be as much as 10 years. By then, the town of Jean could be a suburb of Las Vegas. Noted Ness, "It's a ways out there, but with the kind of growth we've been seeing, it could be just a stone's throw away. Who would have guessed, 10 years ago, that there would be neighborhoods in the southern highlands?"
