Vegas Airport Adds 26 Gates, Service

Las Vegas’ McCarran International Airport adds 26 gates (to its 67 gates) Monday when it opens the steel-glass-and-tile Satellite D Terminal, linked by tram to the main terminal.

Although McCarran’s traffic actually dropped one-half percent last year, officials call it a “speed bump” in growth and, with 20,000 hotel rooms opening in the next two years, they say they are staying ahead of the curve. One sector growing quickly is Japan. Japan Air Lines will begin its first direct Tokyo-Las Vegas flights Oct. 2; Northwest began nonstop service this month. Japanese form the largest group of overseas visitors to Las Vegas: 403,000 last year, up nearly 30%. Overall, about 19% of the city’s tourists are foreigners.