{"id":23507,"date":"2012-07-23T07:00:44","date_gmt":"2012-07-23T12:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/?p=23507"},"modified":"2018-03-06T11:11:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T17:11:16","slug":"gate-games-las-vegas-shows-off-new-airport-termina","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orbitz.com\/blog\/2012\/07\/gate-games-las-vegas-shows-off-new-airport-termina\/","title":{"rendered":"Gate games: Las Vegas shows off new airport terminal"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Takeoff slots: Las Vegas airport’s new Terminal 3 tempts last-minute gamblers with nearly 300 slot machines.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Mark Chesnut
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Las Vegas is the latest U.S. airport to unveil a brand-new terminal building, as well as a slew of terminal and service changes. On June 27, McCarran International Airport officially opened its $2.4 billion Terminal 3, more commonly called T3. The new facility replaces the older Terminal 2. <\/p>\n

According to Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst at the Atmosphere Research Group, the new facility is an appropriate upgrade for the city’s image.\u00a0“Las Vegas is a city that’s known for its bold and daring architecture at its hotels,” he said. “You want your airport to be part of that experience. It’s the first impression a traveler will have when they arrive.”<\/p>\n

T3 has 14 gates and technology that will allow airlines, if they desire, to provide self-boarding as well as self-tagging for baggage at check-in. Half of the terminal’s gates are equipped with “sterile” areas needed to handle international flights, and multiple jet bridges allow for simultaneous front- and rear-boarding of wide-body jets.<\/p>\n

The 1.9-million-square-foot new facility has seven new restaurants and retail establishments \u2014 as well as, appropriately enough, nearly 300 slot machines.<\/p>\n

Twenty three airlines that serve Las Vegas will transition to the new terminal in a three-phase process; major airlines including American, Delta Air Lines<\/a>, US Airways<\/a> and Southwest, will remain in Terminal 1. Among the firstairlines to move to T3 are foreign carriers Air Berlin, British Airways<\/a>, Korean Air<\/a>, Philippine Airlines and WestJet. The newest foreign carrier to land in Las Vegas– Panama City-based Copa Airlines — is also operating from T3, marking the city’s first regularly scheduled nonstop route to a Latin American destination outside of Mexico.<\/p>\n

The first round of domestic airlines make the move to T3 on July 31, when Alaska, Frontier, JetBlue Airways<\/a>, Sun Country and Virgin America shift their operations to the new facility.<\/p>\n

Related resources<\/strong><\/p>\n