After arriving in Las Vegas yesterday and with the Aviation Nation air show not slated to start until tomorrow, my dad, sisters, and I played tourist today and took in some of the sights. One thing I want to do was get some plane-spotting in at Harry Reid International Airport, and would you believe it!? The airport has an official spotting location! Located along the southern perimeter fence along Sunset Road and southeast of the Strip is a parking lot looking out across the airfield. So we spent about an hour or so at this spot and it did not disappoint! I may have to come back here a little later during the trip as well as for any subsequent visits!
This is my first time plane-spotting at a major Class Bravo airport since my days in Utah, which included a few occasions where I went spotting at Salt Lake City International Airport. However, unlike Salt Lake City (which is a hub for Delta Air Lines!), Las Vegas is not a hub for any of the major legacy carriers, but serves as a focus city for most of the country's largest low-cost and ultra low-cost carriers. Even so, it's notable that the major legacy carriers still bring in a sizeable amount of traffic from most of their major hubs owing to the popularity of Las Vegas. In addition, many international air carriers fly into Vegas as well.
Las Vegas (LAS) 2
Preview:
 |
| NetJets Bombardier BD-700-1A10 Global 6000 (N163QS) airborne off 08L as EJA163 for Morristown, New Jersey. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N654NK) airborne off 08L as NKS566 for Indianapolis. |
 |
| American Airlines Airbus A321-253NX (N408AN) taxiing to the gate after arriving as AAL2959 from Washington-National. My first time seeing an A321neo in the American livery! This is also my first time seeing the A321neoLR (or A321LR for short, which of course stands for "long range). |
 |
| Breeze Airways Airbus A220-300 (N215BZ) taxiing for departure as MXY121 for Huntsville, Alabama. My first time seeing Breeze Airways since they started operations last year! I was hoping that I would catch their E-190s and E-195s first considering that those planes are more short-term and the A220-300 is going to be the long-term for the airline's future, but still I'm glad I could finally see the Breeze Airways livery! |
 |
| Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N302NV) in the Las Vegas Golden Knights livery airborne off 08L is AAY4104 for Bozeman. Flight number clearly indicates a charter flight. |
 |
| MXY121 airborne off 08L for Huntsville. |
 |
| Breeze Airways placed an order for the A220-300 in July 2018 with plans to start taking deliveries in 2021 but was able to start operations sooner with the leasing of second-hand Embraer E-190s and E-195s. As of right now, Breeze has less than 10 A220 airframes in operations but have orders for over 60 more airframes. |
 |
| Breeze is certainly living up its business model as the route between Vegas and Huntsville is definitely not one any airline is trying! |
 |
| Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N391FR) "Grizwald the Bear" airborne off 08L as FFT2002 for Atlanta. |
 |
| Thrive Aviation Cessna 700 Citation Longitude (N720VM) airborne off 08L as TIV720 for Spirit of St. Louis Airport in St. Louis, Missouri. |
 |
| NetJets Cessna 680A Citation Latitude (N907QS) airborne off 08L as EJA907 for San Jose. |
 |
| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N214WN) "Maryland One" airborne off 08L as SWA2278 for Santa Ana. |
 |
| Having lived in Maryland for eight years growing up, the sight of this livery depicting the Maryland state flag conjures a sense of nostalgia and a longing for the place I called home. |
 |
| Dassault Falcon 20F-5 (N70PL) airborne off 08L for Lincoln, Nebraska. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N650NK) airborne off 08L as NKS2906 for Santa Ana. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N933NK) airborne off 08L as NKS1038 for Detroit. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N615NK) airborne off 08L as NKS561 for Los Angeles. |
 |
| Allegiant Air Airbus A319-112 (N307NV) airborne off 08L as AAY1896 for Fresno. |
 |
| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 (N417WN) "The Rollin W. King" airborne off 08L as SWA2836 for Chicago O'Hare. Yep, you read that right! Southwest started flying into Chicago O'Hare from a few of their major focus cities as of last year to supplement their Chicago-Midway operations, taking advantage of the recovery of travel demand from COVID repercussions. Airframe named after one of the co-founders of Southwest Airlines. |
 |
| Gulfstream Aerospace G550 GV-SP (N898CE) airborne off 08L. |
 |
| Embraer EMB-550 Legacy 500 (N1Y) airborne off 08L for Naples, Florida. |
 |
| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N8724J) airborne off 08L as SWA711 for Kailua-Kona. Southwest started flying to Hawaii from select west coast focus cities in 2019. |
 |
| Frontier Airlines Airbus A320-251N (N311FR) "Mia the Dolphin" airborne off 08L as FFT1990 for Oklahoma City. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N915NK) airborne off 08L as NKS612 for Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
 |
| Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR (N256JX) airborne off 08L as JSX710 for Reno/Tahoe. Las Vegas is also a major base for JSX! |
 |
| Set Jet Bombardier CL-600-2B19 CRJ-200SE Challenger 850 (N702SJ) airborne off 08L. My first time seeing a privately-owned CRJ configured as the Challenger 850! |
 |
| Airframe first delivered to a Isle of Man-based leasing company in June 2010 as M-TAKE. |
 |
| Officially delivered to Set Jet in September 2020. |
 |
| The Challenger 850 is known as the CRJ-200SE (SE standing for "Special Edition") and was the largest super-midsize business jet built by Bombardier Aerospace. |
 |
| NetJets Bombardier BD-700-1A11 Global 5000 (N115QS) airborne off 08L as EJA115 for Long Beach. |
 |
| United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N37523) airborne off 08L as UAL1392 for Chicago O'Hare. |
 |
| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N8708Q) airborne off 08L as SWA1834 for Oakland. |
 |
| Air Canada Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner (C-FPQB) taxiing to the gate after arriving as ACA1281 from Toronto-Pearson. My second time photographing a 787 in the old Air Canada colors! |
 |
| Scheduled to return to Toronto-Pearson this afternoon as ACA1280. |
 |
| United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 (N27273) airborne off 08L as UAL1533 for Newark. |
 |
| Embraer EMB-550 Legacy 500 (N117NE) airborne off 08L. |
 |
| Deluxe Public Charter (d/b/a JSX Air) Embraer EMB-135LR ERJ-135LR (N253JX) airborne off 08L as JSX302 for Santa Ana. |
 |
| Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (N840VA) airborne off 08L as ASA238 for San Francisco. |
 |
| United Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 9 (N37516) airborne off 08L as UAL1260 for Denver. Only my second time seeing the old United livery on the MAX 9! |
 |
| Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-8H4 (N8620H) "Tennessee One" airborne off 08L as SWA2190 for Denver. "Tennessee One" is the first 737-800 in the Southwest fleet to receive a special livery. |
 |
| American Airlines Boeing 737-823 (N968AN) airborne off 08L as AAL1352 for Chicago O'Hare. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N964NK) airborne off 08L as NKS1134 for St. Louis. |
 |
| Delta Air Lines Boeing 757-351 (N581NW) airborne off 08L as DAL419 for Atlanta. |
 |
| Allegiant Air Airbus A320-214 (N247NV) airborne off 08L as AAY53 for Grand Junction, Colorado. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-232 (N604NK) airborne off 08L as NKS741 to San Diego. |
 |
| Air Canada Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-GELU) airborne off 08L as ACA1061 for Vancouver. My first time seeing an Air Canada MAX 8! |
 |
| Arrived earlier this morning from Calgary as ACA1064. It's so weird seeing Air Canada flying a 737 MAX 8 as it was a complete surprise that they ordered them instead of the A320neo. Prior to the MAX, Air Canada hasn't operated the 737 since dumping their 737-200s, which they inherited from their merger with Canadian Airlines International in 2001. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N938NK) airborne off 08L as NKS421 for Seattle-Tacoma. |
 |
| N408AN taxiing back out for departure as AAL2710 for Miami. The A321LR is an improved variant of the A321neo with longer range, thanks to the addition of three auxiliary fuel tanks. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N947NK) airborne off 08L as NKS1180 for Baltimore. |
 |
| Delta Air Lines Airbus A321-211 (N104DN) airborne off 08L as DAL756 for Minneapolis/St. Paul. |
 |
| Swoop Boeing 737-8CT (C-FYBK) "#OhCanada" taxiing for departure as WSW2745 for Toronto-Pearson. My first time seeing the Swoop livery! |
 |
| Swoop is the ultra low-cost subsidiary of WestJet, launched in 2017 and commenced operations by the summer of 2018. Based in Calgary like its parent company, Swoop was WestJet's response to the growing number of ultra low-cost airlines that were establishing themselves in Canada; the airline name reflects WestJet's desire to "swoop" (or jump) into the Canadian market with a new business model. |
 |
| American Airlines Airbus A321-253NX (N438AN) airborne off 08L as AAL2479 for Los Angeles. My second A321neoLR in the American livery! |
 |
| Arrived earlier this morning as AAL1524 from Miami. The A321LR can fly 100 nautical miles further than the Boeing 757-200, able to achieve a 27% lower trip costs and 24% lower per seat costs. |
 |
| Avelo Airlines Boeing 737-86N (N801XT) airborne off 08L as VXP128 for Santa Rosa. It's so weird seeing Avelo here after photographing this airframe in Eugene last year! Avelo flies a few additional routes that brings them to Las Vegas before eventually making their way back to Burbank on their west coast network. In this case, the airframe arrived earlier this morning from Redding, California as VXP185 after starting the day in Burbank as VXP123. Sadly, the Las Vegas-Redding route will be ending next month on December 15 due to low passenger yields. Needless to say, Avelo hasn't given as much love the west coast this year compared to their east coast network, which has seen significant growth. |
 |
| Spirit Airlines Airbus A320-271N (N935NK) airborne off 08L as NKS361 for Austin-Bergstrom. |
 |
| Bombardier BD-700-1A10 (N711MC) airborne off 08L. |
 |
| AAL2710 airborne off 08L for Miami. Launched in January 2015 and achieving joint FAA/EASA certification with a 180-minute ETOPS on October 2, 2018, the A321LR is capable of flying any transatlantic route; it's already found itself replacing 757-200s on thin transatlantic and "middle-of-the-market" routes. Another improved variant, known as the A321XLR will increase the A321neo's range even further, up to 4,500 nautical miles and is currently undergoing flight testing. |
 |
| WestJet Boeing 737 MAX 8 (C-FHCM) taxiing to the gate after arriving as WJA1788 from Vancouver. After photographing nothing but WestJet Encore Dash 8s back in Portland, I am thrilled to finally photograph something from WestJet's mainline division, not to mention the new WestJet livery! |
 |
| WestJet's mainline division has been a loyal Boeing customer since getting established. They're like the Canadian version of Southwest Airlines, seeing that they've added the Boeing 737 MAX 8 to their fleet in addition to the 737 NGs they've operated. Unlike Southwest however, the Canadian market is different, so WestJet clearly had to diversify their business model in recent years from starting long-haul widebody flights and transition to become more of a traditional full-service carrier, the launch of turboprop flights via their Encore and Link subsidiary, as well as their ULCC Swoop. |
 |
| This airframe was built prior the 737 MAX groundings, so it unfortunately did sit idle during that saga until recertification was achieved. |
 |
| WSW2745 airborne off 08L for Toronto-Pearson. |
 |
| Airframe first delivered to WestJet in November 2015. Transferred to Swoop in October 2018. |
No comments:
Post a Comment