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Rankings / Routes / Los Angeles to Las Vegas

2025 flights

Los Angeles to Las Vegas

Between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, 5.3 million passengers flew nonstop in 2025, on 48 thousand flights of about 227 miles and 43 minutes in the air. The average passenger accounted for about 53 kg of CO2 from the fuel burned, from 40 kg on Frontier Airlines to 97 kg on SkyWest Airlines.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas is 227 miles, short enough to drive, and the flights that do run are the emptiest of the 15 busiest routes: 71% of seats filled, against 79% in 2019. That's more than a quarter of the seats going unused on every flight.

Even so the average passenger accounts for 53 kg of CO2, 13% above the EPA default for a flight this short (47 kg). Passenger numbers are almost the same as in 2019, at 5.3 million, so the story is who's flying them.

  • 53 kgCO2 per passenger, average
  • 227 milesabout 43 minutes in the air
  • 5.3 millionpassengers in 2025
  • 71%of seats filled

CO2 per passenger, airline by airline

CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2025.0255075100Frontier Airlines40 kgSpirit Airlines46 kgSouthwest Airlines54 kgAmerican Airlines55 kgDelta Air Lines55 kgUnited Airlines56 kgHorizon Air71 kgSkyWest Airlines97 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on each airline between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in 2025.050100Frontier Airlines40 kgSpirit Airlines46 kgSouthwest Airlines54 kgAmerican Airlines55 kgDelta Air Lines55 kgUnited Airlines56 kgHorizon Air71 kgSkyWest Airlines97 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger, one way, 2025. Fuel burned only. Less is better.
Los Angeles to Las Vegas by airline, 2025
AirlineShare of passengersFlights (thousands)Main aircraftSeats per flightSeats filledkg CO2 per passenger
Southwest Airlines51%24.3Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737 MAX 815472%54
Spirit Airlines15%6.2Airbus A320neo, Airbus A320-20018071%46
Frontier Airlines8%3.0Airbus A320neo, Airbus A321neo20571%40
Delta Air Lines8%3.5Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-900ER17074%55
United Airlines6%3.0Boeing 737 MAX 8, Boeing 737-900ER17265%56
American Airlines6%2.5Boeing 737-800, Airbus A32118371%55
Horizon Air3%2.9Embraer 1757681%71
SkyWest Airlines2%2.3Embraer 1757265%97

What explains the differences

It's number 6 of the 100 busiest city pairs by passengers, and number 89 for the lowest CO2 per mile flown (0.23 kg per passenger-mile, number 1 being the lowest). A typical route of 227 miles in this set comes out at about 56 kg, so this one is 5.6% below it.

The flights use more than one pair of airports: LAS to LAX (46%), LAS to SNA (18%), LAS to BUR (16%). The figures here cover all of them.

The airlines on this route differ by 142% per passenger. Frontier Airlines burned 600 gallons per flight and 146 passengers on each, and SkyWest Airlines 463 gallons and 47 passengers. The gap comes from how many passengers share each flight, not from fuel burned per flight. Frontier Airlines flew 71% full here against 65% for SkyWest Airlines, flying mostly Airbus A320neo against Embraer 175.

For comparison, the EPA default factor for a flight of this length (0.207 kg per passenger-mile) would give 47 kg. The EPA figure is a national average for flights of that length. The measured figure for this route is 13% higher.

2019 compared with 2025

In 2019 the route carried 5.3 million passengers on 47 thousand flights. In 2025 it carried 5.3 million, down 1%, on 48 thousand flights, up 1%. The average flight had 143 seats then and 156 now, and 79% of them were filled against 71%.

CO2 per passenger was 55 kg in 2019 and 53 kg in 2025, down 2.8%. Fuel burned per flight was down 4.9% (638 gallons to 607) and passengers per flight were down 2.2% (114 to 111). The distance flown was about the same (230 miles then, 227 now).

Southwest Airlines led in both years, with 46% of passengers in 2019 and 51% in 2025. Spirit Airlines gained the most share, 7% to 15%. American Airlines lost the most, 15% to 6%. Frontier Airlines and Horizon Air didn't have 1% of the passengers in 2019 and now together carry 12%. Alaska Airlines and JetBlue and Compass Airlines no longer reach 1% of passengers, having had 14% in 2019.

Airline by airline, Spirit Airlines went from 50 kg to 46 kg per passenger (168 seats per flight to 180, main aircraft Airbus A320-200 then and Airbus A320neo now); SkyWest Airlines went from 76 kg to 97 kg per passenger (76 seats per flight to 72, main aircraft Embraer 175 in both years).

The airports changed too: LAS to LAX handled 60% of the passengers in 2019 and 46% in 2025.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas, 2019 and 2025
Measure20192025
Passengers (thousands)5,3465,302
Flights (thousands)47.147.8
Seats filled79%71%
Gallons of fuel per flight638607
kg CO2 per passenger5553
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Las Vegas for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.02040Southwest Airlines 201954 kgSouthwest Airlines 202554 kgSpirit Airlines 201950 kgSpirit Airlines 202546 kgDelta Air Lines 201954 kgDelta Air Lines 202555 kgUnited Airlines 201953 kgUnited Airlines 202556 kg
CO2 per passenger by airline, 2019 and 2025, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per passenger on Los Angeles to Las Vegas for each major airline in 2019 and in 2025.02040Southwest Airlines 201954 kgSouthwest Airlines 202554 kgSpirit Airlines 201950 kgSpirit Airlines 202546 kgDelta Air Lines 201954 kgDelta Air Lines 202555 kgUnited Airlines 201953 kgUnited Airlines 202556 kg
Kilograms of CO2 per passenger on the airlines that flew the route in both years. 2019 figures use that year's filings and estimated aircraft fuel rates, with type-average replacements for missing or outlying filings as described in the methodology. Less is better.

Los Angeles to Las Vegas and back: time in the air

The time in the air is almost the same each way: 43 minutes on average from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and 43 minutes back. A difference of 0 minutes is within what routing and congestion alone produce.

Time in the air by direction, 2025
DirectionAverage minutes in the airFlights
Los Angeles to Las Vegas43.323,840
Las Vegas to Los Angeles42.923,913

Fly or drive

Driving is about 266 miles by road, which we estimate as 1.17 times the straight-line distance. An average car emits about 79 kg of CO2 on the trip, at the EPA figure of 0.297 kg per vehicle-mile. Alone, that's 48% more than the 53 kg for a passenger on the flight.

With 2 people in the car, driving comes out lower per person than the flight (39 kg each, and 20 kg each for four). A larger SUV or pickup (0.394 kg per mile) would emit about 105 kg per vehicle.

CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.020406080Flight, average53 kgCar, driver alone79 kgCar, 2 people39 kgCar, 4 people20 kg
CO2 per person by way of travel, Los Angeles to Las VegasBar chart of kilograms of CO2 per person flying, driving or taking the train between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.0255075Flight, average53 kgCar, driver alone79 kgCar, 2 people39 kgCar, 4 people20 kg
CO2 per person, Los Angeles to Las Vegas. Driving figures divide one car's emissions between the people in it. See flying vs driving for other trip lengths.

Flights are listed under the airline that operates them, so regional flying appears under the regional. How the CO2 and drive figures are worked out is in the methodology.

What to take from it

The budget airlines have grown quickly. Spirit went from 7% of passengers to 15%, Frontier from nothing to 8%, and they're at 46 and 40 kg against Southwest's 54 kg. American went the other way, from 15% to 6%. The regional jets are the highest, SkyWest at 97 kg.

Driving 266 road miles alone is 79 kg, 48% more than the flight. With two people it's 39 kg each, 26% below it. Flying takes 43 minutes in the air each way, and the wind makes no difference.

Routes with shared cities or nearby CO2 per mile

Los Angeles to San Francisco75 kg CO2 per passenger over 337 milesNew York to Los Angeles406 kg CO2 per passenger over 2,465 milesLos Angeles to Dallas-Fort Worth171 kg CO2 per passenger over 1,222 milesLos Angeles to Denver130 kg CO2 per passenger over 850 milesNew York to Charlotte117 kg CO2 per passenger over 541 milesNew York to Raleigh-Durham102 kg CO2 per passenger over 427 milesDallas-Fort Worth to San Antonio60 kg CO2 per passenger over 247 miles

Airports on this route: Harry Reid International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, John Wayne Airport, Hollywood Burbank Airport, Ontario International Airport.

Airport and airline references

Source: US Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), T-100 traffic and Schedule T-2 fuel filings; US EPA transport emission factors. See the methodology.

See all routes, or how the airlines compare overall on the airline pages.