Harry Reid International Airport, known for most of its life as McCarran International Airport, began as Alamo Field, a modest general aviation strip built by aviator George Crockett in 1942 south of Las Vegas. Clark County acquired the site and on December 19, 1948, it opened as McCarran Field, receiving its first commercial airline passengers. Growth was immediate. Fueled by the casino boom along the Strip, the airport grew from 36,000 passengers in 1948 to nearly one million by 1959.

In September 1960, United Airlines became the first carrier to offer jet service to Las Vegas, operating Boeing 720s into a facility barely equipped to handle them. A new terminal followed in 1963. Deregulation in 1978 doubled the number of airlines almost overnight, touching off decades of near-continuous expansion: new concourses, a people mover, an international terminal, and finally Terminal 3 in 2012. Southwest Airlines rose to become the dominant carrier through the 1990s and remains a defining presence today. The airport is also an operating base of Allegiant Air. In December 2021, the Clark County Commission renamed the facility Harry Reid International Airport in honor of the late Nevada senator.

Located about 5 miles south of downtown Las Vegas in the unincorporated community of Paradise, LAS sits in an unusual operational position: it is widely cited as the busiest airport in the world without a direct rail connection. Over 58.4 million passengers passed through in 2024, an all-time record. The airport operates 4 runways across 2,800 acres, serves more than 30 airlines, and handles international routes to Asia, Europe, and across North America. It is also one of only 2 airports in the United States where Nevada law permits slot machines in the terminals.