Fans in attendance in Las Vegas for Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday got their money’s worth, with the Kansas City Chiefs pulling out a thrilling win in the last seconds of the overtime quarter to repeat as NFL champions. But business aviation traffic to the city—which was hosting its first Super Bowl—was down considerably compared to that in the host cities in previous years.
According to aviation activity tracker FlightAware, for the week encompassing the game, including Monday’s getaway day, the five airports in the Las Vegas area—Harry Reid International (KLAS), Henderson Executive (KHND), North Las Vegas (KVGT), Boulder City Municipal (KBVU) and Nellis Air Force Base (KLSV)—saw nearly 1,700 business aircraft arrivals, the lowest number in a Super Bowl host city since 2021's contest in Tampa Bay.
Last year, when the game was held in Glendale, Arizona, it attracted 2,400 arrivals spread over the area’s eight airports: Scottsdale (KSDL), Phoenix Sky Harbor International (KPHX), Phoenix Deer Valley (KDVT), Phoenix-Mesa Gateway (KIWA), Chandler Municipal (KCHD), Phoenix Goodyear (KGYR), Glendale Municipal (KGEU), and Luke Air Force Base (KLUF). That amounts to a more than 29 percent decrease year-over-year. Likewise, Super Bowl LVI in Los Angeles also saw more than 2,000 arrivals.
According to flight data tracker WingX Advance, during this year’s Super Bowl, average daily arrivals during the event weekend were 1.5 times higher than the average daily arrivals for February so far. Last year in Arizona, the daily average during the event was 1.9 times higher than the daily average during February 2023.
While some have posited that the difference was due to fewer airports in the Las Vegas area, this year’s totals also underperformed the private aviation traffic the city saw in November for its first Formula 1 Grand Prix, where the contentious special event aviation fees were also in effect. Over the week of the race, there were more than 2,000 arrivals at the city’s airports.