LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — People are coming to Las Vegas in record numbers — temporarily and permanently — and that has officials pointing to a resurfacing of the need for a second commercial airport in Southern Nevada.
On Tuesday, a group of Clark County officials and others met with local reporters to discuss the need.
"We do feel that we need the second commercial airport process to get going now," said Rosemary Vassiliadis, director of aviation for Clark County.
Last year, Harry Reid International Airport welcomed 57.6 million arriving and departing passengers, a record for the facility.
Through the first two months of 2024, the airport is on pace to set another record this year.
The kicker on the new airport talk is that the soonest it would open would be 2037. County officials have long had their eye on land in the Ivanpah Valley, near Primm, about 30 miles south of Las Vegas.
Planning for the new airport has actually been years in the making, but the recent flood of residents and tourists has only put the topic more in the spotlight.
MORE: Clark County reaches milestone in planning for new airport — but there's still a long way to go
On Tuesday, Clark County Commissioners Jim Gibson and Michael Naft — both present at the meeting — agreed with Vassiliadis, they say the new airport isn't a luxury, but rather a need.
The news on the planning for the facility is that a consultant firm could be recommended for a needed environmental impact statement study sometime this summer.
It's unknown how long the study would take, but a Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson, in an email, told Channel 13 that the FAA could sign off on an environmental statement sometime in 2027.
Tuesday afternoon, Cindy Zimpfer, a Las Vegas resident who flies frequently, told Channel 13 that she welcomes the idea of the supplemental airport.
"I do agree that there would probably need to be an airport down the road," Zimpfer said. "There's a significant amount of people moving into the state."
As for how many passengers Harry Reid International could handle on a yearly basis, Vassiliadis says there isn't a ceiling that she would point to, but she did say that passenger delays could creep into play in future years.
"It's possible that we could see that within the decade," Vassiliadis said.
She also cautioned that making predictions like that can be futile because of how circumstances can change.
"We don't want to reach a point where delays and certain things could impact whether people decide to come to Las Vegas," she said.
The land for the new airport — commonly referred as the Ivanpah Valley airport — is already set aside. About 6,000 acres would be for the facility itself while an additional 17,000 acres would be used for a "transportation and utilities corridor," according to county documents.
The airport would feature two runways, with the longest being over 15,000 feet.
Work toward an environmental study was actually started over a decade ago, but efforts were shut down in 2010, largely because of the fallout from the Great Recession.
But now plans for Ivanpah are back at the forefront and the price tag for the facility will certainly be in the billions.
At one time, the projected cost was close to $14 billion. Vassiliadis shied away from citing projected costs on Tuesday, but did say that a public-private partnership could help pay for Ivanpah.
No matter what happens — and when it might happen — Harry Reid International isn't going anywhere, officials say. The new airport would supplement it, not replace it.
