Gallery Update: More Spotting at Las Vegas!

After an incredible day closing out air show season at Nellis Air Force Base for the Aviation Nation Open House yesterday, I HAD to go back to the spotting area of Harry Reid International Airport to get some plane-spotting in! It was unintentional, but this ended up becoming my biggest plane-spotting outing for the entire year, as I was hell-bent on catching a few more things I normally don't see back home. Instead of briefly describing what I was after today, I'll let the photos speak for themselves, but I will say I got quite a few new sightings which I was generally pleased with. After this weekend trip to Las Vegas and plane-spotting at Harry Reid International Airport several times, I don't think anything else back home is going to top it!

Las Vegas (LAS) 3

Preview:

United Airlines Boeing 737-924 (N37409) departing on 26R as UAL1714 for Houston-Intercontinental. Only my second time photographing a non-ER 737-900 in United colors!

Swoop Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-GJKK) taxiing to the gate after arriving on 26L as WSW744 from Toronto-Pearson. My first time seeing a MAX 8 operated by Swoop!

Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (C-FGFZ) departing on 26R as ACA1280 for Toronto-Pearson.

My third time catching an Air Canada Dreamliner in the previous livery on this overall trip! The route between Toronto and Vegas must do pretty well for Air Canada to justify sending a wide-body like the 787!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N366FR) "Kit the Kermode Bear" arriving on 26L as FFT2135 from Dallas-Fort Worth.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N670NK) taxiing for departure as NKS429 for San Diego. My first time seeing the A321 in the Spirit livery! AvGeeks often refer to A321s in the yellow Spirit Airlines livery as the "Spirit Airlines Banana Bus!" Quite fitting, considering the striking yellow paint and the length of the A321!

AeroMexico Boeing 737-8Z9 (N342AM) departing on 26R as AMX481 for Mexico City. My first time photographing AeroMexico! 

Arrived earlier in the day from Mexico City as AMX484.

I never had a chance to catch AeroMexico when they briefly served Portland from late-2017 to early 2019 because those flights were always late at night.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N640NK) departing on 26R as NKS1038 for Detroit.

Continental Airlines United Airlines Boeing 737-924/ER (N75435) in the Continental Airlines retro livery taxiing for departure as UAL574 for San Francisco. I am thrilled to FINALLY photograph the Continental retro livery and something that literally says "Continental Airlines!"

This airframe is actually the second to sport the Continental retro livery. The first was another 737-900/ER with registration N75436, which got repainted into the standard post-merger livery in 2016. Either way, I'm glad United reapplied this livery on another airframe!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N380FR) "Verde the Resplendent Quetzal" arriving on 26L as FFT1967 from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Bombardier CL-600-2B16 Challenger 605 (XA-MJT) arriving on 26L from El Paso.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N659NK) arriving on 26L as NKS1294 from Chicago O'Hare. My second time seeing one of Spirit's A321s!

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8681M) arriving on 26L as SWA2957 from Denver.

JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 (N766JB) "Etjay Luebay" arriving on 26L as JBU111 from New York-JFK.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N932NK) arriving on 26L as NKS1722 from Portland, Oregon (feels weird saying that, considering that PDX is my "home airport" in terms of plane-spotting and commercial air travel!).

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N275NV) taxiing for departure as AAY55 for McAllen, Texas.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N690NK) departing on 26R as NKS2228 for Portland, Oregon (again, it feels weird saying that!).

VivaAerobus Airbus A320-232 (XA-VAE) taxiing for departure as VIV113 for Mexico City. My first time seeing VivaAerobus!

American Airlines Airbus A321-253NX (N434AN) taxiing for departure as AAL2348 for Washington-National. My third time seeing an American Airlines A321neoLR!

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N508AY) departing on 26R as AAL1537 for Dallas/Fort Worth.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N303FR) "Poppy the Prairie Dog" departing on 26R as FFT2943 for Salt Lake City.

WestJet Boeing 737-8CT (C-GJLS) departing on 26R as WJA1789 for Vancouver.

Airframe arrived earlier this afternoon as WJA1788 from Vancouver. After photographing the new livery on one of their 737 MAX 8s two days ago, I'm glad I got to see the old livery with the Maple Leaf logo!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N928NK) departing on 26R as NKS3167 for Miami.

JetBlue Airways Airbus A321-231 (N984JB) "SuaveMenta" taxiing for departure as JBU448 for New York-JFK. Only my second time photographing a JetBlue A321 and my first time seeing one utilized on the airline's signature "JetBlue Mint" service!

Bombardier BD-700-2A12 Global 7500 (N769F) arriving on 26L from Baton Rouge. My first time seeing a Global 7500!

The Bombardier Global 7500 and 8000 are a family of ultra long-range business jets developed by Bombardier Aviation (formerly Bombardier Aerospace) and are the updated and stretched variants of the Global 6000.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A319-114 (N354NB) arriving on 26L as DAL2385 from Los Angeles.

United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N27515) arriving on 26L as UAL1727 from Los Angeles. 

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N955NK) arriving on 26L as NKS2907 from Santa Ana.

United Airlines Airbus A319-131 (N831UA) departing on 26R as UAL1934 for Denver.

NKS429 departing on 26R for San Diego.

The A321 has an interesting history with Spirit Airlines. They initially operated six airframes with the original wingtip-fences and in the old grey livery starting in late-2004 all under lease, with the last one exiting the fleet in early 2017. The airline began taking delivery of sharklet-equipped A321-200s under their own ownership starting in 2015, right around the time they rebranded into their current yellow livery.

United Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N411UA) arriving on 26L as UAL272 from Denver.

UAL574 departing on 26R for San Francisco.

I never had the opportunity to photograph any Continental Airlines titles prior to the merger, so this retro livery is the closest I'll get.

Really glad United transferred this livery to another airframe in order to show off their heritage!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N651NK) arriving on 26L as NKS1874 from Seattle-Tacoma.

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-83N (N830SY) arriving on 26L as SCX172 from Williston, North Dakota. Note the "40 Years of Flight" banner, which is new as of this year; 2022 marks 40 years since Sun Country was first founded in June 1982.

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Air) Boeing 767-31K/ER/BDSF (N1373A) departing on 26R as GTI3735 for Cincinnati. 

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N417WN) "The Rollin W. King" arriving on 26L as SWA3063 from Amarillo, Texas.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N210FR) "Sheldon the Sea Turtle" departing on 26R as FFT1104 for Orlando. I didn't think there were any airframes in the old Frontier livery/titles left in the fleet!

Korean Air Boeing 777-3B5/ER (HL8216) arriving on 26L as KAL005 from Seoul-Incheon. This was one of the prize catches that I was hoping to catch and I am so glad I was able to photograph this. My first time photographing the Korean Air livery!

Interestingly, Korean Air is currently the only Asian carrier to connect Las Vegas with the Asia continent.

AAY55 departing on 26R for McAllen.

United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N17529) departing on 26R as UAL1961 for Washington-Dulles.

VIV113 departing on 26R for Mexico City. Glad I had a chance to see the airline's old livery!

Arrived earlier this afternoon from Mexico City as VIV112.

Viva Aerobus is a fairly young Mexican low-cost airline first founded in 2006 and fully owned by the largest bus company group in Mexico, IAMSA.

The airline flies over 130 routes in more than 40 destinations serving Colombia, Cuba, the United States, and Mexico. Its has bases at Cancun, Mexico City, Mérida, Guadalajara, Monterrey, and Tijuana. Viva Aerobus began service to Las Vegas in 2009.

AAL2348 departing on 26R for Washington-National.

JBU448 departing on 26R for New York-JFK.

JetBlue introduced their "Mint" business class on a handful of A321s for premium transcontinental and select Caribbean services in 2013 in order to better-compete with longtime incumbent legacy carriers. 

United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N27256) arriving on 26L as UAL370 from Newark.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-251 (N539US) taxiing for departure as DAL660 for Atlanta.

Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR (N252JX) arriving on 26L as JSX711 from Reno/Tahoe.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-211 (N714FR) "Cubby the Bear" taxiing for departure as FFT2167 for Seattle/Tacoma.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N392FR) "Kenai the Beluga Whale" arriving on 26L as FFT2166 from Seattle/Tacoma.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N343DN) arriving on 26L as DAL834 from Atlanta.

KAL005 taxiing to the gate.

Korean Air has been connecting Las Vegas with Seoul (and by extension, the Asian continent) since 2006. The only exception was the 2-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Korean Air resumed flights to Las Vegas earlier this summer on July 10, 2022.

As it turns out, Korean Air and its historically-iconic livery is a a popular fixture for Las Vegas-based plane-spotters and aviation enthusiasts because of its distinction of being the only carrier to connect Vegas with Asia!

Considering how dynamic the Las Vegas market is, I could only assume it's a popular destination for South Koreans to justify sending a wide-body to fly the route three times a week.

Las Vegas was the last U.S. gateway city/market Korean Air restored from the pre-pandemic days.

Airframe will spend a few hours on the ground in Las Vegas before making the return-trip to Seoul later this evening as KAL006.

Korean Air's Triple Sevens are likely the largest aircraft serving Las Vegas on a regularly-scheduled basis.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N216FR) "Cliff the Mountain Goat" departing on 26R as FFT2022 for Cincinnati.

In addition to the Triple 7s, Korean Air also sends A330s to Las Vegas on occasions.

Korean Air has also sent Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners into Las Vegas in the past.

And of course, Korean Air sent Boeing 747-400s into Vegas back in the day.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N247NV) departing on 26R as AAY1664 for Glacier Park/Kalispell.

The fact that Korean Air sends varying widebody types into Vegas depending on market conditions show how dynamic a destination Las Vegas is.

I honestly can't get enough of the Korean Air 777!

I really wish sights like this were more common closer to where I live...

Honestly, I'm surprised other Asian carriers aren't currently serving Las Vegas.

Las Vegas has been known to see temporary services and routes added by foreign as well as domestic airlines during the week of Consumer Electronics Show (CES), an annual trade show organized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), which occurs every January at Las Vegas Convention Center.

Naturally, a lot of temporary routes from Asia pop up during the week of CES and it wouldn't surprise me if Korean Air capitalized on it as well!

Considering how popular Korean Air is with the plane-spotting community in Las Vegas, I'm glad I had a chance to see it here for myself as well during this trip!

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N284NV) arriving on 26L as AAY142 from Chicago/Rockford.

Sun Country Airlines Boeing 737-8Q8 (N515SY) departing on 26R as SCX122 for Dallas/Fort Worth.

Volaris Airbus A320-233 (N512VL) "Fernanda" arriving on 26L as VOI960 from Guadalajara.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N325NV) arriving on 26L as AAY54 from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N604NK) departing on 26R as NKS1806 for Sacramento.

Air Canada Rouge Airbus A319-114 (C-GARO) taxiing for departure as ROU1706 for Montréal–Trudeau. I haven't photographed Air Canada Rouge since they briefly served PDX back in 2019!

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N123NN) departing on 26R as AAL2470 for Charlotte.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N288NV) arriving on 26L as AAY91 from South Bend, Indiana.

WestJet Boeing 737-8CT (C-GJWS) taxiing for departure as WJA1117 for Toronto-Pearson. And I also get to photograph the old WestJet livery with the original (non-Maple Leaf) logo!

Breeze Airways Airbus A220-300 (N211BZ) arriving on 26L as MXY242 from Syracuse, New York. My second time photographing a Breeze Airways A220!

This is the fifth A220 Breeze took delivery of.

Out of all the A220s I've seen so far this year, Breeze Airways definitely has the most attractive livery!

FFT2167 departing on 26R for Seattle/Tacoma.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N612NK) arriving on 26L as NKS360 from Dallas/Fort Worth.

VOI960 taxiing to the gate.

MXY242 taxiing to the gate. Again, another city pair that no other airline has even attempted to try!

Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR (N258JX) arriving on 26L as JSX108 from Burbank.

JetBlue Airways Airbus A320-232 (N524JB) "Blue Belle" arriving on 26L as JBU2577 from Denver. This flight originated in Boston, but diverted to Denver likely due to a medical emergency or a technical issue.

United Airlines Boeing 757-224 (N14120) in the Star Alliance livery departing on 26R as UAL1666 for Houston-Intercontinental. It's been so long since I last saw a United 757-200 (certainly before I started shooting in DSLR!).

Strangely enough, this flight began rolling down the runway, but then aborted takeoff and taxied over to hold area between the two runways, likely to work out a technical issue.

When one stops to think about what happened to this flight, it's not surprise considering that these 757s are some of the oldest in the fleet and have been prone to reliability issues.

American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N916NN) in the Reno Air retro livery arriving on 26L as AAL1796 from Austin. I was quite thrilled to finally see the Reno Air livery!

American acquired Reno Air on August 30, 1999 and unveiled this heritage livery in 2015 following the American/US Airways merger and in keeping with the tradition of having heritage liveries started by US Airways.

UAL1666 eventually got underway for Houston-Intercontinental.

DAL660 departing on 26R for Atlanta after a long wait in the queue for takeoff.

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N572UW) arriving on 26L as AAL1541 from Phoenix-Sky Harbor.

VivaAerobus Airbus A321-271NX (XA-VBH) departing on 26R as VIV603 for Monterrey. Another prize catch for me in terms of international carriers, not to mention my first time photographing an A321neo (an -LR model, no less!) in the VivaAerobus livery AND my first time seeing an A321 sporting the black "eye shade/racoon mask" around the cockpit windows that initially started with the A350.

Arrived from Monterrey as VIV602. This was the third A321neo delivered to the airline.

Seriously, the black outline around the cockpit windows make this A321neo look so much cooler!

When they first commenced operations, VivaAerobus flew a fleet of Boeing 737-300s and flew them until the end of 2016, when they became an all-A320 family operator.

After catching their A320 in the old livery moments earlier, I'm thrilled I got to see the new livery on this trip as well.

Interestingly, VivaAerobus entered into a partnership with locally-based Allegiant Air in December 2021 to form an alliance and expand low-budget services between the United States and Mexico. Believed to the world's first ultra-low-cost international airline alliance, it is set to launch some time in 2023, pending regulatory approval.

WestJet Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-GRAG) departing on 26R as WJA1401 for Calgary. My second time seeing a MAX 8 operated by WestJet and my second time seeing the new livery!

Arrived earlier this afternoon from Calgary as WJA1424.

Breeze Airways Airbus A220-300 (N215BZ) taxiing for departure as MXY117 for Richmond, Virginia. Saw this airframe here at Vegas two days ago. Clearly, it's based on the east coast!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N331FR) "Choo the Pika" departing on 26R as FFT2002 for Atlanta. Pikachu!?!? I think I see what Frontier did there!

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N648NK) departing on 26R as NKS874 for Los Angeles.

ROU1706 departing on 26R for Montréal–Trudeau.

Arrived earlier this afternoon as ROU1707 from Montréal–Trudeau. Air Canada Rouge primarily serves Las Vegas from both Montréal and Toronto.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N315V) arriving on 26L as AAY284 from Bellingham, Washington.

C-GJKK taxiing for departure as WSW745 for the return-trip to Toronto-Pearson.

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N8735L) departing on 26R as SWA1773 for San Diego.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N255NV) arriving on 26L as AAY416 from Cincinnati.

MXY117 joining the queue for departure. It's rush hour in Sin City! 

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N368FR) "Cortez the Green Turtle" arriving on 26L as FFT2087 from Salt Lake City.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N645NK) departing on 26R as NKS1466 for New Orleans.

WJA1117 departing on 26R for Toronto-Pearson.

Glad I was able to catch all three variations of WestJet's livery currently flying around on this single spotting trip!

Volaris Airbus A320-233 (XA-VLQ) "Los Ornelas" taxiing for departure as VOI967 for Mexico City.

Hawaiian Airlines Airbus A330-243 (N390HA) arriving on 26L as HAL6 from Honolulu.

Smoking the mains! From one kind of paradise to another!

United Airlines Boeing 737-824 (N13227) departing on 26R as UAL1791 for Chicago O'Hare.

American Airlines Airbus A321-231 (N136AN) departing on 26R as AAL807 for Dallas/Fort Worth.

WSW745 departing on 26R for Toronto-Pearson.

Swoop taking on 737 MAX 8s actually raised a few eyebrows in Canadian aviation circles, partly due to the 737 MAX groundings and ultimately rooted in disputes between WestJet's pilot union and the company.

As WestJet transitioned from a Southwest-like low-cost carrier to a more traditional full-service carrier, Swoop would take over the ultra low-cost segment of the parent company's network, partly in response to the rise of some Canadian start-ups competing in the same market.

When Swoop was initially established, parent company WestJet announced that they would hire a completely separate pool of pilots to fly for them. That of course didn't sit well with WestJet pilots, who threatened to strike. The strike was averted and it was agreed that WestJet pilots would fly Swoop branded planes. With such contention in the company Swoop initially steered clear of WestJet's main hubs, but that changed in 2020, which of course led to more opposition.

With the MAX 8 being WestJet's flagship narrowbody aircraft, having the company's ultra-low-cost subsidiary also fly MAX 8s has likely raised a few eyebrows and one can imagine some aren't' too happy to see Swoop MAX 8s compete with those of mainline WestJet's. Swoop announced an order of six 737 MAX 8s in February of this year and began taking delivery of them this past summer. These frames are likely already-built white-tail aircraft directly from Boeing (and not transfers from WestJet) and was originally meant for another airline, but subsequently cancelled due to the worldwide grounding of the 737 MAX starting in 2019 and going up to the end of 2020. In the end, it's ironic to see that a plane that initially de-railed things for WestJet in 2019 is now a platform for solid expansion opportunities for both the parent company and its subsidiary!

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N629NK) taxiing for departure as NKS1292 for Houston-Intercontinental. I didn't think there were any airframes left in the Spirit fleet sporting the previous livery.

N366FR departing on 26R as FFT208 for Guadalajara. Frontier serves four different cities in Mexico from their Las Vegas hub. 

MXY117 departing on 26R for Richmond.

Breeze is still relatively new to the western part of the United States since commencing operations, so it'll be of great interest to see where they'll serve and add to next (I'm secretly hoping they'll jump at some potential opportunities close to home in Oregon where I currently live!).

Volaris Airbus A320-233 (XA-VOY) "Martha" arriving on 26L as VOI988 from Guadalajara.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N374FR) "Crystal the Florida Manatee" arriving on 26L as FFT2124 from Santa Ana.

Mira Vista Aviation Cessna 680 Citation Sovereign+ (N680RH) arriving on 26L as MVJ68 from Van Nuys.

Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-231 (N722TW) departing on 26R as DAL512 for New York-JFK.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N231NV) arriving on 26L as AAY97 from Santa Maria, California.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N122DN) departing on 26R as DAL1287 for Minneapolis/St. Paul.

Allegiant Air Airbus A319-111 (N338NV) departing on 26R as AAY74 for Moline/Quad Cities, Illinois.

N766JB taxiing for departure as JBU148 for the return-trip to New York-JFK.

Atlas Air (d/b/a Amazon Air) Boeing 737-84P/BCF (N5237A) departing on 26R as GTI3679 for Fort Worth/Alliance. Previously flew under the Southern Air call-sign and operations, which was a subsidiary of Atlas Air. Atlas and Southern fully integrated and merged operations about a year ago now on November 17, 2021 under a single operating certificate. Atlas bought Southern Air on April 7, 2016 and kept operating it as a separate airline until the merger was complete. 

N380FR departing on 26R as FFT2026 for Spokane.

Embraer EMB-550 Legacy 500 (N782MM) arriving on 26L from Garden City, Kansas.

VOI967 departing on 26R for Mexico City.

Swoop Boeing 737-8CT (C-GDNG) arriving on 26L as WSW802 from Hamilton, Ontario. My second time catching a Swoop 737-800!

Like all the 737-800s in Swoop's fleet, this one was initially delivered to WestJet.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N617NK) arriving on 26L as NKS562 from Los Angeles.

N932NK departing on 26R as NKS1687 for Oakland.

NKS1292 departing on 26R for Houston-Intercontinental

Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N781WN) "New Mexico One" arriving on 26L as SWA827 from Phoenix-Sky Harbor. Thrilled to catch another state special from Southwest!

N830SY departing on 26R as SCX126 for San Antonio.

N27515 departing on 26R as UAL1413 for Houston-Intercontinental.

Gulfstream Aerospace G450 GIV-X (N906MM) arriving on 26L from Liberia, Costa Rica. 

N651NK departing on 26R as NKS71 for Santa Ana.

American Airlines Airbus A321-253NX (N417AN) arriving on 26L as AAL2530 from Los Angeles. My fourth A321neoLR in the American livery!

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N295NV) arriving on 26L as AAY82 from Oklahoma City.

Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N377DN) arriving on 26L as DAL879 from Minneapolis/St. Paul.

N659NK departing on 26R as NKS1688 for the return-trip to Chicago O'Hare.

N354NB departing on 26R as DAL2385 for the return-trip to Los Angeles.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N694NK) arriving on 26L as NKS1701 from Kansas City.

JBU148 departing on 26R for New York-JFK.

Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N292NV) arriving on 26L as AAY98 from Rapid City.

N255NV taxiing for departure as AAY394 for the return-trip to Cincinnati. The sun started dipping below the horizon (as one might be able to tell from the lighting!), so this incredible spotting trip was about to come to an end!

N27256 departing on 26R as UAL1735 for the return-trip to Newark.

N288NV departing on 26R as AAY68 for Memphis.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N639NK) arriving on 26L as NKS416 from Nashville.

Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-86N (N801XT) arriving on 26L as VXP127 from Santa Rosa.

N524JB taxiing for departure as JBU178 for the return-trip to Boston.

N211BZ taxiing for departure as MXY207 for Akron/Canton.

Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N652NK) arriving on 26L as NKS3373 from Memphis.

Frontier Airlines Airbus A321-211 (N716FR) "Seymour the Walrus" departing on 26R as FFT2038 for Indianapolis.

AAY394 departing on 26R for Cincinnati.