Plans for new Las Vegas airport no longer up in the air

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – Since 1943 flights bringing travelers to Las Vegas have landed somewhere in the city’s valley, but now Ivanpah valley will be possibly alleviating some of the demand to help the community soar to new heights.

The Clark County Department of Aviation (CCDOA) held a media briefing to outline the necessity of a second commercial airport for Las Vegas and explain why the southern dry lake bed near the California border was chosen.

“Back in the 1990s our predecessors were thinking about this,” James Chrisley, CCDOA senior director, said. “They started with 16 candidate sites and worked down to four.”

Apex, Eldorado Valley, Moapa Reservation, and Ivanpah Valley were identified as the best candidates after initial selection, according to CCDOA documents.

Due to airspace constraints from Nellis Air Force base Moapa Reservation and Apex were eliminated.

In the final evaluation, Ivanpah Valley and Eldorado Valley were compared for best user convenience, access routes, availability of land, potential transit connection, and cost of development—Ivanpah was preferred.

Plans for an airport in the southern desert were considered after the signing of the Ivanpah Valley Airport Public Lands Transfer Act of 2000 but due to economic factors plans were postponed.

“It’s something we wished we had been able to see through the economic downturn, through the pandemic,” Jim Gibson, Clark County Commissioner, said. “It didn’t happen, but we were poised with all the good work we had done to take off from where we left off.”

The airport project, titled the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport, is now moving out of the near three-decade early planning phase onto the environmental phase, with project completion planned for 2037.

“Those of us who are in office today won’t likely be in office when this airport opens,” Gibson said. “But we are thrilled to be a part of it, and we are committed to doing the work of making sure we get all of the questions out there and all the questions we need.”

In the coming months, the CCDOA will be going before the Clark County Commission to award bids for contracts related to the project, according to CCDOA documents.

Lay of the land

The future site of the Southern Nevada Supplemental Airport consists of 6,000 acres, combined with an additional 17,000 acres for “airport compatibility” and “a transportation and utilities corridor,” according to CCDOA documents.

The site will feature a single terminal and two runways which will support commercial, general, and cargo aviation activity.

Rosemary Vassiliadis, CCDOA director, pointed out the demand for relief for Harry Reid International Airport has been underlined by recent major international events like the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix and Super Bowl LVIII.

“We have a responsibility not to become a constraint in the continuing evolution of this town,” she said. “I have been in this town for 40 years and I would never have thought professional sports would have become as successful as it is.”

Harry Reid International Airport ranks among the busiest “origin and destination” airports in the United States with a record 57.6 million passengers recorded in 2023.

However, the question of which airlines will land at the SNSA is still up in the air according to Vassiliadis.

“We will make that decision closer to opening day,” she said. “I don’t know what airlines are going to be existing in 2035.”

Plans also showed costs for the airport have not been finalized between the CCDOA, Bureau of Land Management, and Federal Aviation Administration.

“We have a cost estimate for opening day that is getting refined with FAA and BLM,” Vassiliadis said. “They have to be 100% comfortable.”

8 News Now asked if water demand has been considered as drought conditions frequently plague questions of development in Southern Nevada.

“The airport does not consume a significant amount of water because the water is captured, treated, recycled, and returned over and over again,” Marcus Faust, a CCDOA lobbyist, said.

Credit was also given to representatives like Manny Ortez, former Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority chief, and Robert Broadbent, former Clark County Commissioner and longtime public servant, who did not live to see the airport’s next stage but contributed to its creation.

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