LAS Airport Expansion Plans Shown Off To Clark County

There's always something happening in Las Vegas. New casinos, attractions, sporting events and conventions have millions of people pouring into the city. That's why major changes are inbound to Las Vegas with the newly unveiled LAS airport expansion plans.

The Clark County Department Of Aviation unveiled the "Modernization Plan for Harry Reid International Airport" to the Clark County Board Of Commissioners on Tuesday.

The one constant in Las Vegas is change, and the LAS airport expansion will be bringing plenty of it to Harry Reid International Airport.

First things first - Terminal 1. The elder terminal is not as efficient as it could be. Ever have a flight go out of one of those gates that are in that circular concourse? Those do not fit as many gates as a typical "pier" design. So get ready for those to go away.

They'll be replaced with a more typical pier hallway approach like you see at the D gates. That, along with building on the northern portion of Terminal 1 (which used to be Terminal 2) will allow for an additional 26 gates to be squeezed into the terminal. That's impressive! Although, here's hoping they have an answer for parking to go along with it, because T1 parking gets full very fast.

That's Terminal 1. But what Terminal 3? It's going away.

"What? Going away?! Why? They just built it," you are probably exclaiming. Well, worry not. They are simply renaming Terminal 3 as Terminal 2. There used to be a Terminal 2 so Terminal 3 was named as such to not confuse anyone. But all that ended up doing is confusing people who wonder where Terminal 2 is.

Along with changing a digit (we'd love to know the cost of changing all those signs), the move from the existing Terminal 2 security checkpoint will feature a more direct route to the trams to the D gates which are not accessible by car.

The biggest improvement might come on the roads around the airport. The new traffic design around the airport will make it a lot easier to travel from Terminal 1, Terminal 2 and back around. Right now it isn't very smooth sailing. But overpasses and re-routing of traffic will make it make a lot more sense.

This isn't fully approved yet. The next step is for the Clark County Department Of Aviation to show the plans off to the entities that will be paying the fees to fund the whole project, which mostly means the airlines and, in turn, you.

Once the stakeholders give their thumbs up, then the project may go forward. All we know is we much prefer taking Terminal 3, so if they ruin that experience we will be very sad.

Once the stakeholders give their thumbs up, then the project may go forward. All we know is we much prefer taking Terminal 3, so if they ruin that experience we will be very sad.

Correction: In the original version of this article, the second paragraph stated that the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport (SNSA) would be a freight airport in Jean, Nevada. The Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport is the second commercial airport being planned for in Ivanpah Valley, not Jean, Nevada.

If you've driven to the drop-off area of Harry Reid International Airport, you'll see the names of several of the "usual suspects". Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and on and on. But then you'll start to see the other airlines that fly direct to Las Vegas.

Avelo? Advanced? Breeze? Who ARE these airlines? Should you be flying them? Well... we are getting to the bottom of these off-brand airlines and figuring out where they go direct and whether they are worth flying or not.

Allegiant Air is an airline on the cusp. If you don't live in Las Vegas or a small market they service, chances are you wouldn't know who they are. In fact, if it wasn't for the Las Vegas Raiders home, Allegiant Stadium, many people may never have heard of the airline at all.

The locally based discount carrier uses LAS as a hub and has several direct flights to many destinations, although many of them are secondary markets that might not get serviced by other airlines. Those direct markets include...

There are a slew of other alternate airlines as well... we'll go down the list of ones you may not have heard of before. Who knows, we could save you a buck!

If you are trying to fly to Merced Regional Airport in Merced, California, you've found your airline. The airline has one direct flight from Las Vegas and it is to this city of nearly 90,000 between Fresno and Modesto. They fly other places too, with Los Angeles and Phoenix serving as their home bases.

Avelo Airlines has a connection to Nevada - Elko in particular. They started flying in 1989 as Casino Express Airlines flying from Elko to Portland, Oregon and Seattle, Washington. In 2018, the company was acquired (then going by Xtra) and turned into Avelo.

They have several west coast destinations out of Los Angeles, but interestingly the airline does not fly from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Probably too much competition. Instead, they fly direct from Las Vegas to these bustling metropolises.

This relatively new carrier has the ability to "blow up" (in a good way). It was founded by the same guy that co-founded big players like JetBlue and WestJet. They have several cities they are focusing their attention on from Hartford, Connecticut to Provo, Utah. The list of direct flights to and from Las Vegas is impressive, though, and they might be a good option if you're going to a medium sized metro area.

There are a lot of Canadian carriers, including WestJet (which is not on this list but is still unfamiliar to some). But Canada Jetlines? They've been around for aboot a decade and if you're looking for a direct flight from Las Vegas to Toronto, Ontario, Canada (YYZ) then you've got your airline.

Stop. Stop singing Barry Manilow. You know you are. So predictable.

Alas, Copa Airlines flies direct from Las Vegas to Panama City, Panama (PTY). That's it, but frankly, that destination is always in fashion.

Edelweiss is a sister of Swiss International Air Lines. If you want to visit Zurich, Switzerland, Edelweiss Air. If you want to fly literally anywhere else, they aren't it.

Another low cost carrier out of Canada, Flair Airlines flies direct to nearly all of Canada's largest major cities:

Sorry, Montreal.

Truly never heard of Lynx Air. The only Lynx we know is the animal, and the old Game Gear competitor from Atari.

Needless to say, if you want to catch a Flames game, head to Calgary direct. Nothing else from here.

This airline is so new, they haven't even begun flights yet. That starts on July 14th. That said, the <a href="https://np.com/"><strong>Northern Pacific Airways</strong></a> is going to have one flight on the books to start: Las Vegas to Ontario, California. (They are saying "Los Angeles" but LA is about 40 miles away). That said, they have plans to fly to Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Orlando and more. Starting small.

How do you get to Lincoln, Nebraska direct from Las Vegas? Red Way! No way!? Yes way! But don't go looking for a "Red Way" plane. The planes all say Global Crossing. Why? Maybe they can explain, but we sure can't. They should rename the airline "Catfish Airways."

Is it an "airway" or an "airline"? Nope. It's just Swoop. Arguably the coolest airline name ever. They have three direct flights, all to Canadian destinations.

Volaris has been in the game since 2006, and unlike many on the list they take us south of the border. The airline has direct flights from Las Vegas to Guadalajara and Mexico City, Mexico.