A $90 billion, five-year reauthorization of the nation’s aviation programs that is headed to the White House for the president’s signature is expected to help bring more visitors to Nevada and boost the state’s economy, especially in Southern Nevada, travel industry advocates and experts said.

“Aviation is vital to the travel and tourism industry, so any policies or reforms that improve air travel are going to benefit Nevada’s travel industry,” said Erik Hansen, vice president of government relations for the U.S. Travel Association (USTA).

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) bill was approved by the Senate Wednesday on a 93-6 vote with both Sen. Dean Heller, a Republican, and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, voting for the legislation. The House approved the measure last month with all members of the Nevada delegation voting for it. The bill now goes to President Donald Trump, who is expected to sign it into law before the end of the week.

The package includes funding to improve the nation’s airports, stipulates the minimum seat sizes for passenger planes and prevents passengers who have already boarded from being involuntarily bumped from overbooked planes, among a myriad of provisions.

The bill also included new regulations for drones, including giving the FAA the flexibility needed to regulate all drones, such as imposing remote identification and tracking requirements. Gov. Brian Sandoval has sought to develop the drone industry in the state.

With the funding locked in under the bill, airports can begin longer-term planning projects, which is a welcome change from the months under which the FAA operated under six short-term extensions that were needed to finish work on the measure, Hansen said.

He also pointed out that language in the House version of the bill that would have made it harder for international low-cost airlines to enter the U.S. market had been dropped in the final bill. A move for which the USTA had advocated, he believes it was a plus for cities like Las Vegas, which has courted low-cost carrier Norwegian Airlines.

“That’s going to benefit travelers and it is also going to benefit destinations like Las Vegas, which has sought to add air service from Norwegian and low-cost carriers that provide a new access to markets,” Hansen said.

The bill is expected to benefit Southern Nevada, which has a more tourism-dependent economy than the North.

“Certainly visitors are important to our economy,” said Stephen M. Miller, director of the UNLV Center for Business and Economic Research, adding that leisure and hospitality account for about one in three jobs in Southern Nevada.

The FAA bill could also help bring in visitors to see what will be the state’s latest attraction: the Las Vegas Raiders. Clark County sold about $600 million in bonds to finance the $1.8 billion stadium and more visitors will help the county pay off that debt.

In Northern Nevada, the leisure and hospitality industry provides about 17 percent of the jobs, according to Brian Bonnenfant, project manager at the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno.

He said the center recently completed an analysis of the economic impact for the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, which indicated that the airport added $3.1 billion to the Reno-Sparks economy. He said visitors accounted for $1.9 billion of the total.

“That’s two-thirds of the total economic impact of the airport is because of the visitation component,” Bonnenfant said. “That’s huge.”

Members of the state’s congressional delegation lauded the bill’s passage and the provisions they authored and supported that ended up in the final package.

Heller pointed to 14 provisions he got into the measure, including proposals to improve air travel for disabled individuals, boost Nevada’s travel and tourism economy, promote aviation safety, help veterans find employment and advance the state’s drone industry.

One of Heller’s proposals would ensure that tourism stakeholders, like the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, would be taken into account as part of the Future Aviation Infrastructure and Financing Study, which is designed to make recommendations on actions needed to improve the national aviation infrastructure system. 

“Whether it’s ensuring that individuals with disabilities continue to have equal access to transportation, reinforcing safety precautions related to air travel, or promoting drone technology in the state of Nevada, this agreement along with my provisions directly addresses our state’s priorities, and I look forward to seeing it swiftly signed into law,” Heller said in a release.

Cortez Masto had four provisions included in the bill. One proposal would allow the purchase and lease of zero-emission vehicles to be eligible for funding under the Airport Improvement Program. Another would, for the first time, make construction of a contract tower for air-traffic control at smaller airports eligible for the Small Airport Improvement Program.

“The final FAA package is a victory for Nevada and will strengthen the state’s leadership in innovation and technology,” she said in a release.

Both Cortez Masto and Heller worked on drone amendments. For example, Heller included a provision that would advance the process for the FAA to create certifications for individual drone traffic management systems by private entities. Cortez Masto included the Drone Safety Enhancement Act, which, among other things, authorizes $1 million annually for the “Know Before You Fly” drone public service campaign.

In the House, Rep. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat, said she “was proud to help pass this bipartisan five-year FAA reauthorization, which includes several provisions to improve safety for travelers.”

Two amendments she offered were included, with one calling on airlines to hire more veterans.

The legislation also included language from Democratic Rep. Dina Titus, who sits on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which helped draft the measure. One of her proposals would “assist large airports, like McCarran, better navigate the lengthy FAA approval process for infrastructure projects,” she said in a release.