The number of passengers using McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas continued to slide in 2010, totaling fewer than 40 million after peaking at 47.7 million in 2007.

Data released Thursday showed just under 3.1 million passengers arrived and departed the airport during December.

That put the total for 2010 at just under 39.8 million, down 16.7 percent from 2007.

The peak traffic figure came before the national recession cut into travel and tourism.

Airport spokesman Chris Jones says McCarran handled 44 million passengers in 2008 and just under 40.5 million in 2009.

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