World City Guide

Getting There By Air

McCarran International Airport (LAS)
Tel: (702) 261 5211. Fax: (702) 261 3111.
Website: www.mccarran.com

Las Vegas McCarran International Airport is located a mere 1.6km (one mile) from the Strip and 5.6km (3.5 miles) from Downtown, connected only by road. With over 800 flights each day, it is ranked as the seventh busiest airport in the world.

Major airlines: American Airlines (tel: (800) 433 7300; website: www.aa.com) operates both domestic and international flights from McCarran International. Las Vegas is connected to most other American airports by a number of other domestic carriers including America West, Continental, Delta, Frontier, Hawaiian, Northwest, Spirit and United. International carriers include Air Canada, JAL, Northwest, Singapore and Virgin Atlantic, serving destinations such as Mexico City, Toronto, Tokyo, Shanghai and London.

Approximate flight times to Las Vegas: From London is 12 hours; from New York is 6 hours; from Los Angeles is 1 hour 11 minutes; from Toronto is 5 hours 15 minutes and from Sydney is 14 hours 40 minutes.

Airport facilities: These include bureaux de change, ATMs, tourist information, car hire (Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, National, Payless, Sav-mor and Thrifty), a fitness centre, a medical centre, lockers, restaurants, duty free, shops, bars, a massage centre, flower vending machines, shoeshine services and a post office. Due to increased security procedures, lockers may be out of service at various times. Traveller should enquire first if they plan to leave luggage at the airport.

Business facilities: The business centre TravelX (tel: (702) 261 5950) is located in terminal one and offers limited services: Western Union, fax services and currency exchange. The office has no set hours. Visitors should call ahead.

Arrival/departure tax: US$6 departure tax is included in the price of the ticket.

Transport to the city: The simplest and most popular way to reach Las Vegas from the airport is by taxi. A trip to Downtown costs about US$18 and to the Strip about US$7 (journey time – 30 minutes and 10 minutes respectively). A bus service is operated by Citizens Area Transit (tel: (702) 228 7433 or (800) 228 3911 toll free in the USA; website: www.catride.com ). Buses108 and 109 depart from outside the arrival and baggage claim area every 30 and 20 minutes respectively, costing US$1.50 (journey time – approximately 25 minutes). The service is available 24 hours.

A number of shuttle companies run services to and from McCarran Airport, with services to the Strip hotels costing around US$3–4 (journey time – 15–25 minutes) and to hotels Downtown US$4–6 (journey time – 30–45 minutes). Companies include Bell Trans Shuttle Bus (tel: (702) 739 7990), CLS (tel: (702) 740 4050), Coach USA/Express Shuttle (tel: (702) 739 5700), Las Vegas Limousine (tel: (702) 736 1419), and Star Transit (tel: (702) 646 4661).

America’s railway service provider, Amtrak (tel: (800) 872 7245; website: www.amtrak.com) has recently opened its new stop at McCarran Airport, which links to its station on the Strip (journey time – 10 minutes) for a cost of US$10.