McCarran International Airport is the primary commercial airport serving the Las Vegas Valley, a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Nevada. It is located in Paradise, about south of Downtown Las Vegas. The airport is owned by Clark County and operated by the Clark County Department of Aviation. It is named after the late U.S. Senator Pat McCarran, a member of the Democratic Party who contributed to the development of aviation both in Las Vegas and on a national scale.The airport was built in 1942 and opened to commercial flights in 1948. It has undergone significant expansion since then and has employed various innovative technologies, such as common-use facilities. The airport consists of four runways and two passenger terminals: Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Terminal 1 is composed of four concourses, namely the A, B, C, and D Gates; Terminal 3 contains the E Gates. A people mover system is in place between the pre-security area of Terminal 1 and the C and D Gates, as well as between the D Gates and Terminal 3. East of the passenger terminals is the Marnell Air Cargo Center, and on the west side of the airports are facilities for fixed-base operators and helicopter companies.McCarran received over 45,300,000 passengers in 2015, a 5.8% increase over the previous year but still below pre-recession levels. It is the 26th busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic and the 8th busiest by aircraft movements. The airport has nonstop air service to destinations in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is an operating base for Allegiant Air, as well as a crew and maintenance base for Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines, and Spirit Airlines.
