Las Vegas airport offering PPE in vending machines

McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas announced Thursday that it would begin selling personal protective equipment (PPE) in vending machines.

According to a tweet from the airport, the vending machines will allow travelers to purchase essential PPE, such as gloves and masks, sanitizer and alcohol wipes.

A new option to help protect yourself and others while traveling. LAS was the first airport to install PPE vending machines from which travelers can purchase items like gloves and hand sanitizer. These machines can be found in T1 ticketing and near the T3 TSA checkpoint. pic.twitter.com/1suaVel412

— McCarran Airport (@LASairport) May 14, 2020

McCarran Airport spokeswoman Christine Crews told CNN, “The whole world is going through behavioral modification and learning new habits, so it’s not unthinkable that someone could show up at the airport and not have the new necessities that are part of travel.”

So far, the airport offers three vending machines, two near Terminal 1 ticketing areas and one near Terminal 3 TSA checkpoints, according to McCarran’s tweet.

The vending machines are reportedly owned and operated by California-based company Prepango, which specializes in automated retail services.

Prices for goods in the machine range as low as $3.50 for tissues up to $14.50 for a reusable cloth mask. The machine also sells disposable KN95 masks for $8.25 each, the airport tweeted.

“I do believe we are the first in the nation to have these vending machines,” Crews said, according to CNN.