Harry Reid International Airport officials on Tuesday provided new details on a likely multibillion-dollar airport expansion that could take at least four years to develop and serve as a bridge to the 2037 opening of a supplemental airport south of Las Vegas.
Clark County Aviation Director Rosemary Vassiliadis and two airport planning associates briefed the Clark County Commission on the plan in a 25-minute overview of projects that would expand Terminal 1 from 39 to 65 gates, build two multimodal centers that would also expand airport parking and redesign roadways that would separate direct connections between the two airport terminals from airport bypass traffic.
As part of the program, Terminal 3 would be renamed Terminal 2 to avoid passenger confusion.
Senior Director of Aviation James Chrisley and Managing Director of Planning Bryant Holt detailed several projects within the expansion program to enthused commissioners who said they’d been waiting for months to hear about the project.
Officials said it’s too early to estimate the cost of the project, but the work appears to be far more extensive than the $2.4 billion Terminal 3 project that was completed in 2012. Vassiliadis made it clear that the project would likely be paid for with bonds supported by airport user fees — dollars the airport collects from vendors, airlines and passengers for things like landing fees, parking and gaming concessions.
After commissioners encouraged the airport team to press ahead, the next step will be to introduce the concept to a consortium of airlines that use Reid which must approve projects and would probably review the program in December.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on X.