T3 Takes Off: The Opening of Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport

7/31/2019 T3 Takes Off: The Opening of Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport

1/3

6 BUSINESSVOICE// JUNE 2012 LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JUNE 2012 //BUSINE

T3

TAKES

OFF

Technology will also be a huge component

at T3. The check-in areas include kiosks

that allow people to print and afx their own

baggage tags, which trials have shown

improves the efciency o the baggage

check process. At the gates, passengers

will be able to use sel-boarding devices,

which read your boarding passes and open

up similar to the modern turnstiles one would

fnd at a subway or train station. On the

outside, aircrat will enjoy a new automated

docking eature called Saedock, which

uses a high-perormance laser range fnder

and LED display to guide pilots to within 10

centimeters o their aircrats stop position,

regardless o the weather, time o day or size

o the aircrat.

Terminal 3 is the rst airport acility

to open in the post-9/11 era. What are

some o the challenges and advanced

security eatures in the expansion?

In many ways, designing a new terminal in

the post-9/11 era made things easier, since

we had a better understanding o what the

Transportation Security Administrations

regulations and expectations were rom the

moment we frst put pen to paper.

Some o the things travelers may notice

include bollards on the sidewalks outside

along the curbs, which were installed to

prevent vehicles rom driving too close to

the building. There are also more than

1,000 surveillance cameras within the

main building and garage, which help

improve saety and security.

Also, the T3 security checkpoints were built

to be much larger than any checkpoints rom

the pre-9/11 era. Today we obviously know

more about how the screening processes

have evolved, what steps we can take to

maximize passenger ow prior to those

checkpoints, and so on. I anything, we want

travelers to notice the improved efciency.

What does Terminal 3 mean or th

Las Vegas business community a

the local economy?

For decades, it seemed as though gro

visitor volume was constantly challen

the airports inrastructure. McCarran

expanded in the 1980s, 1990s and 2

but our planners were soon ater pres

readdress the next challenge as more

and airlines expressed a desire to y t

Vegas, and we had to come up with n

ways to squeeze everyone in.

T3 will add 14 aircrat gates, including

equipped to handle direct internationa

arrivals, a market that has enjoyed do

digit growth in recent years. It can als

support the check-in, security screen

baggage claim needs o up to 26

gates at McCarrans D Concourse, loc

just a 45-second tram ride away. The

to split D gates trafc between two te

will greatly relieve peak period conges

he opening o Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport is generating national buzz, rom the sophistication o its technology

to the aesthetics o the original art installations adorning di erent points o the terminal. We asked Randall Walker, Director o

the Clark County Department o Aviation, about what the opening o Terminal 3 means or the uture o Las Vegas.

What are some o Terminal 3s eatures and amenities that will keep us at the oreront o travel and tourism?

At 1.9 million square eet, it oers added space. Most people probably dont realize the airports existing inrastructure was only designed

to process up to 40 million passengers per year. With some creativity we were able to handle almost 48 million passengers in our busiest

year in 2007, but we could not go on like that orever. The extra space at T3 is something we believe people will notice right away.

T


2/3

1.9 million square eet

$2.4 billion cost

14 additional gates

15 baggage carousels

100% common use

32 curbsidecheck-in positions

1,000 cameras

1,150 LCD and LED dynamic signage

203 sel-service kiosks

130 check-in positionsin ticketing lobby

1,800 workers employedduring the peak o construction

(December 2009)

6,000 spaces in the parking garage

10,000 square ootduty-ree shop

BY THENUMBERS

$

SF

P

%

SIGN

T3

increase efciency and reduce waiting

times, travelers at Terminal 3 will alsoenjoy some o the airline indust rys

latest technologies.

We also have added a lot o comort amenities,

including new stores and restaurants, and

have continued our longstanding practice o

oering ree wireless Internet service, with

plenty o additional places to recharge your

cell phone or hand-held device. All o these

improved measures will support added growth

within Southern Nevadas tourism industry.

Travel and Leisuremagazine

readers recently named McCarran

the number seven-rated airport

overall, including having the best

location among airports surveyed.

What does this mean or Terminal 3

and McCarrans uture?

Its always nice to receive credit rom

outside parties, whether it is t he recent Travel

and Leisureranking or J.D. Power

and Associates, which selected McCarran as

the top airport in North America a ew years

ago. In reality, our more than 1,400 employees

understand that McCarran provides the frst

and last impression o Las Vegas or millions o

travelers each year. We take that responsibility

seriously because we recognize that most

travelers choose to visit Las Vegas rather thancome here because they have to. The last

thing we want is or someone to choose to

take their next trip elsewhere because they

had a bad experience at McCarran.

How will the new GPS-based air trac

control system expand the capacityo the airport? What does it mean or

Southern Nevada?

McCarran is uniquely positioned to

receive benefts rom the Federal Aviation

Administrations Next Generation Air

Transportation System, or NextGen. Its

primary efciencies are expected to result

in greater predictability o ight paths, and

improved ability or FAA air trafc controllers

to have more planes in the air saely at

any given time.

McCarran is one o the frst airports in the

nation to implement new NextGen instrument

approach procedures called Area Navigation

(RNAV), Standard Instrument Departures (SIDS)

and Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARS).

In essence, they reer to procedures that will

allow arriving or departing aircrat to ollow

more efcient and environmentally riendly

ight paths to and rom the airport. In turn,

that will result in less noise over noise-

sensitive areas, and reduced carbon emissions

thanks to aircrat gaining the ability to burn

less uel while in ight.

The modernization aorded by NextGen will

greatly improve efciency or air travel to Las

Vegas, and we are hopeul that NextGen may

help reduce delays, as well.

The bottom line is simple: at some point, the

airline industry will recover, and the systematic

delays and congestion that were commonplace

a ew years ago will again become the norm

unless the ederal government takes action toimprove the nations air trafc control systems.

NextGen is the way to address that problem,

hopeully in the short-term uture.

How do you view the airport in terms o

visitor experience? How does the new

terminal actor into showcasing Las

Vegas as an ideal business location to the

millions o people that travel through it?

Terminal 3s appearance will demonstrate

to travelers that this is a community that is

committed to its number one industry, and

remains willing to invest in acilities that provide

the inrastructure necessary or Las Vegas to

remain one o the worlds most popular travel

destinations or decades to come.

As Las Vegas works to attract and

expand businesses, how does the airport

t into an economic diversication

strategy and what advantages does

McCarran bring in making Las Vegas a

competitive place to do business?

The airport is just one component o any

regions economic diversifcation strategy,

but I am confdent McCarran is a strong

selling point or those engaged in such

eorts here locally.

Business travelers here have access to an

airport that sees nearly 500 departures each

day, with nonstop service to any o 139

airports around the world. There are not many

Continued on page 10


3/3

10 BUSINESSVOICE// JUNE 2012 LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LAS VEGAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JUNE 2012 //BUSINE10

communities, certainly none the size o Las

Vegas, which can match that type o reach in

terms o scheduled air service.

In addition, McCarrans location is in close

proximity to this communitys central

business corridor, which can also be

advantageous when comparing travel times

here versus those in some other cities.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport

has logistics tied into its airport. How

does the growth o logistics t into the

overall sustainability and uture economic

development o Southern Nevada?

For logistics to take on a l arger role at

McCarran, the community must frst create

a more robust manu acturing base. Todaythe airports core unction remains the

movement o travelers, not cargo, because

our communitys primary industry is still

travel and tourism.

Last year, or example, McCarran handled

less than 95,000 tons o cargo airportwide.

By comparison, Los Angeles International

Airport had nearly 1.8 million tons. Also, a

signifcant portion o the cargo we d o see at

McCarran is directly or indirectly connected

to the tourism indust ry, whether that means

resh seaood own in or use in restaurants

or resh owers that that will be used to

decorate a place setting within a hotel lobbyor conerence center.

The LVCVA has identied international

markets as an important part o

expanding our visitor trac. What

is the strategy o expanding direct

international fights and how can Las

Vegas grow its international capacity?

Terminal 3 provides seven gates that can

accommodate international arrivals that

require direct access to screening by U.S.

Call 383.4650 to subscribe to Southern Nevadas LEADING source for LOCAL BUSINESS NEWS.

SOME LEAD.Others follow.

Richard JohnsonChie Financial Ofcer

The Smith Center orthe Perorming A

702.248.4200bankonevada.com/smith-center

Banko Nevada is an afliate o Western Alliance Bancorporation04/12

FORWARDTOGETHER

Before there was music, there was a partnership.

We are particularly gratifed that our lending is rom a local,community-based bank because this is a acility that was built or

the community. It makes or a great collaborative partnership.

Customs and Border Protection ofcials.

Previously, McCarran only had our such

gates, and those were much less efcientthan what T3 has in place. This act alone

was a signifcant development or the

communitys international marketing push,

because without T3 there simply would not

have been room or McCarran to accept

more direct international ights during

peak arrival periods.

Aside rom the added space, we work

closely with the LVCVA to market the

destination and McCarran beore potential

airline partners.

We are always looking into which markets

we believe could beneft rom new s ervice,

and strategically trying to contact specifc

carriers that may be capable o serving

those areas o the world.

This approach has been successul. In May,

we welcomed new seasonal service rom

Germanys Airberlin, and in June well add

nonstop ights rom Amsterdam by a carrier

called ArkeFly. We are particularly excit

about the June 27 addition o Copa, a

Panamanian carrier that has a great neor one-stop Las Vegas service to cities

throughout Latin America. British Airwa

has also just announced its plans to ad

three-times-per-week service rom Lon

Gatwick, as well. There is a lot to be ex

about in terms o international visitatio

Terminal 3 opens to the public on

June 27. For more inormation on t

opening activities, visit McCarran.

Documents

T3 Takes Off: The Opening of Terminal 3 at McCarran International Airport