Report: Nevada airports good for regional, state economies
By Richard N. Velotta, Las Vegas Sun
Nevada airports are better economic drivers than those in nearly every other state in the country, a report prepared for Airports Council International-North America says.
“The Economic Impact of Commercial Airports in 2010” quantifies the contributions of 490 commercial airports in the United States.
Reno-Tahoe airport adds to Nevada's economy. Photo/LTN
The analysis, prepared by Cincinnati-based CDM Smith, says airports multiply a community’s economic output — particularly at a facility like McCarran International Airport. McCarran stands out because it has more airlines than most other airports, more employees to handle large volumes of customers and serves a tourism economy that includes hundreds of jobs spun off from airport operations.
The report says California airports produced the most economic output in 2010, at $158 billion. That state’s 29 airports provided 1.4 million jobs with an annual payroll of $47.1 billion.
Nevada was ninth on the 50-state list, with economic output of $40.5 billion. The state’s five commercial airports provided 313,640 jobs with an annual payroll of $11.8 billion, the report said.
But on average, Nevada’s airports produced economic output of $8.1 billion per airport, second only to Georgia, which had nine airports that produced $8.9 billion per airport on average.
Georgia is home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the nation’s busiest.
The five Nevada airports included in the CDM study were McCarran, Reno-Tahoe International Airport, North Las Vegas Airport, Elko Regional Airport and Boulder City Municipal Airport.