Yesterday the Airports Council International and the U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics released passenger count data for last year.

Previously number five on the esteemed passenger traffic rankings list, in 2006 our own McCarran International Airport fell to number six with 46.2 million people. Denver retook the number five spot where it has been since 2000, with the exception of 2005 when McCarran moved up to number five.

Southwest Airlines won the domestic passengers category for the third year carrying some 96.3 million people. Southwest transported 15.4 million to and from McCarran (that’s 33% of McCarran’s domestic passengers). Perhaps the airline’s slogan should be, “Ding! You’re free to visit Las Vegas.”

The other busy U.S. airports? They were Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and Dallas.

And how did McCarran rank worldwide? Number 11. Also worldwide, American Airlines won the award for most passengers for a U.S. airline for the fifth consecutive year with a total of 98.1 million.

According to the report, all U.S. airlines combined carried more than 744 million people last year, up slightly less than 1 percent from 2005.