Los Angeles International Airport

Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX, FAA LID: LAX) is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles, 18 miles (29 km; 16 nmi) southwest of downtown Los Angeles, with the commercial and residential areas of Westchester to the north, the city of El Segundo to the south, and the city of Inglewood to the east. LAX is the closest airport to the Westside and the South Bay.
The airport is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, that also operates the Van Nuys Airport for general aviation. The airport covers 3,500 acres (1,400 ha) of land and has four parallel runways.
In 2023, LAX handled 75,050,875 passengers, making it the world's eighth-busiest airport, according to the Airports Council International rankings. In 2024, LAX served 76,587,980 passengers, a 2.04% increase from 2023. As the largest and busiest international airport on the West Coast of the United States, LAX is a major international gateway for the country, serving as a connection point for passengers traveling internationally (such as East and Southeast Asia, Australasia, Mexico, and Central America).
The airport holds the record for the world's busiest origin and destination airport, because relative to other airports, many more travelers begin or end their trips in Los Angeles than use it as a connection. In 2019, LAWA reported approximately 88 percent of travelers at LAX were origination and destination passengers, and 12 percent were connecting. It is also the only airport to rank among the top five U.S. airports for both passenger and cargo traffic. LAX serves as a hub, focus city, or operating base for more passenger airlines than any other airport in the United States.
Although LAX is the busiest airport in the Greater Los Angeles area, several other airports serve the region including Burbank, John Wayne (Orange County), Long Beach, Ontario, and San Bernardino.
In 1926, the Los Angeles City Council and the Chamber of Commerce recognized the need for the city to have its own airport to tap into the fledgling, but quickly growing, aviation industry. Several locations were considered, but the final choice was a 640-acre (1.00 sq mi; 260 ha) field in the southern part of Westchester. The location had been promoted by real estate agent William W. Mines, and Mines Field as it was known had already been selected to host the 1928 National Air Races. On August 13, 1928 the city leased the land and the newly formed Department of Airports began converting the fields, once used to grow wheat, barley, and lima beans, into dirt landing strips.
The airport opened on October 1, 1928 and the first structure, Hangar No. 1, was erected in 1929. The building still stands at the airport, remaining in active use and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Over the next year, the airport started to come together: the dirt runway was replaced with an all-weather surface and more hangars, a restaurant, and a control tower were built. On June 7, 1930, the facility was dedicated and renamed Los Angeles Municipal Airport.
The airport was used by private pilots and flying schools, but the city’s vision was that Los Angeles would become the main passenger hub for the area. However, the airport failed to entice any carriers away from the established Burbank Airport or the Grand Central Airport in Glendale.
World War II put a pause on any further development of the airport for passenger use. Before the United States entered the war, the aviation manufacturers located around the airport were busy providing aircraft for the Allied powers, while the flying schools found themselves in high demand. In January 1942, the military assumed control of the airport, stationing fighter planes there, and building naval gun batteries in the ocean dunes to the west.
Meanwhile, airport managers published a master plan for the land and, in early 1943, convinced voters to back a $12.5 million bond for airport improvements. With a plan and funding in place, the airlines were finally convinced to make the move.
After the end of the War, four temporary terminals were quickly erected on the north side of the airport and, on December 9, 1946, American Airlines, Trans World Airlines (TWA), United Airlines, Southwest Airways, and Western Airlines began passenger operations at the airport, with Pan American Airways (Pan Am) joining the next month. The airport was renamed Los Angeles International Airport in 1949.
The temporary terminals remained in place for 15 years but quickly became inadequate, especially as air travel entered the "jet age" and other cities invested in modern facilities. Airport leaders once again convinced voters to back a $59 million bond on June 5, 1956.
The current layout of the passenger facilities was established in 1958 with a plan to build a series of terminals and parking facilities, arranged in the shape of the letter U, in the central portion of the property. The original plan called for the terminal buildings to be connected at the center of the property by a huge steel-and-glass dome. The dome was never built, but a smaller Theme Building, constructed in the central area, became a focal point for people coming to the airport.
The first of the new passenger buildings, Terminals 7 and 8, were opened for United Airlines on June 25, 1961, following opening festivities that lasted several days. Terminals 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 opened later that same year.
There was a major expansion of the airport in the early 1980s, ahead of the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. In November 1983, a second-level roadway was added, Terminal 1 opened in January 1984 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal opened in June 1984. The original terminals also received expansions and updates in the 1980s.
Since 2008, the airport has been undergoing another major expansion. All of the terminals are being refurbished, and the Tom Bradley International Terminal was substantially rebuilt, with a West Gates satellite concourse added. Outside of the terminal area, the LAX West Intermodal Transportation Facility with 4,300 parking spaces opened in 2021, replacing the former Lot C. A new LAX/Metro Transit Center station and a LAX Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ConRAC) are being built. All will be connected to the terminal area by the LAX Automated People Mover. Altogether, those projects are expected to cost $30 billion and bring LAX's total gates from 146 to 182.
Before the 1930s, US airports used a two-letter abbreviation and "LA" served as the designation for Los Angeles Airport. With rapid growth in the aviation industry, in 1947, the identifiers were expanded to three letters, and "LA" received an extra letter to become "LAX". The "X" does not have any specific meaning. "LAX" is also used for the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro and by Amtrak for Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles.
Runways 24R/06L and 24L/06R (designated the North Airfield Complex) are north of the airport terminals, while runways 25R/07L and 25L/07R (designated the South Airfield Complex) are south of the airport terminals.
LAX is located with the Pacific Ocean to the west and residential communities on all other sides. Since 1972, Los Angeles World Airports has adopted a "Preferential Runway Use Policy" to minimize noise levels in the communities closest to LAX.
Typically, the loudest operations at an airport are from departing aircraft, with engines operating at high power, so during daytime hours (6:30am to midnight), LAX prefers to operate under the "Westerly Operations" air traffic pattern, named for the prevailing west winds. Under "Westerly Operations", departing aircraft take off to the west, over the ocean, and arriving aircraft approach from the east. To reduce noise to areas north and south of the airport, LAX prefers to use the "inboard" runways (06R/24L and 07L/25R) for departures, closest to the central terminal area and further from residential areas, and the "outboard" runways for arrivals. Historically, over 90% of flights have used the "inboard" departures and "outboard" arrivals scheme.
During night-time hours, when there are fewer aircraft operations and residential areas tend to be more noise sensitive, additional changes are made to reduce noise. Between 10pm and 7am, air traffic controllers try to use the "outboard" runways as little as possible and, between midnight and 6:30am, the air traffic pattern shifts to "Over-Ocean Operations", under which departing aircraft continue to take off to the west, but arriving aircraft also approach from the west, over the ocean.
There are times when the Over-Ocean and Westerly operations are not possible, particularly when the winds originate from the east, typically during inclement weather and when Santa Ana winds occur. In those cases, the airport shifts to the non-preferred "Easterly Operations" air traffic pattern, under which departing aircraft take off to the east, and arriving aircraft approach from the west.
The South Airfield Complex tends to see more operations than the North, because there are a larger number of passenger gates and air cargo operations areas on the south side of the airport grounds. In 2007, the southernmost runway (07R/25L) was moved 55 feet (17 m) to the south to accommodate a new central taxiway. Runways in the North Airfield Complex are separated by 700 feet (210 m). There were plans to increase the separation by 260 feet (79 m), which would have allowed a central taxiway between runways to have been built, but faced opposition from residents living north of LAX. These plans were scrapped in 2016, in favor of lifting a gate cap at the airport and building a new park on the airport's north side.
The distinctive Theme Building in the Googie style was built in 1961 and resembles a flying saucer that has landed on its four legs. A restaurant with a sweeping view of the airport is suspended beneath two arches that form the legs. The Los Angeles City Council designated the building a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1992. A $4 million renovation, with retro-futuristic interior and electric lighting designed by Walt Disney Imagineering, was completed before the Encounter Restaurant opened there in 1997 but is no longer in business. Visitors are able to take the elevator up to the observation deck of the "Theme Building", which had previously been closed after the September 11, 2001 attacks for security reasons. A memorial to the victims of the 9/11 attacks is located on the grounds, as three of the four hijacked planes were originally destined for LAX. The Bob Hope USO expanded and relocated to the first floor of the Theme Building in 2018.
LAWA currently has several plans to modernize LAX, at a cost of $30 billion. These include terminal and runway improvements, which will "enhance the passenger experience, reduce overcrowding, and provide airport access to the latest class of very large passenger aircraft"; this will bring the number of LAX's total gates from 146 to 182.
Recently completed improvements include:
Future improvements include:
It is the world's eighth-busiest airport by passenger traffic and eleventh-busiest by cargo traffic, serving over 87 million passengers and 2 million tons of freight and mail in 2018. It is the busiest airport in the state of California, and the fifth-busiest (2022) airport by passenger boardings in the United States. In terms of international passengers, the second busiest airport for international traffic in the United States, behind only JFK in New York City. The number of aircraft movements (landings and takeoffs) was 700,362 in 2017, the third most of any airport in the world.
In the secure area of the airport, tunnels or above-ground connectors link all the terminals except for the regional terminal.
LAX Shuttle route A operates in a counter-clockwise loop around the Central Terminal Area, providing frequent service for connecting passengers. However, connecting passengers who use these shuttles must leave and then later re-enter security.
LAX operates several shuttle routes to connect passengers and employees around the airport area:
Route A – Terminal Connector operates in a counter-clockwise loop around the Central Terminal Area, providing frequent service for connecting passengers. However, connecting passengers who use these shuttles must leave and then later re-enter security.
Route C – City Bus Center connects the Central Terminal Area and the LAX City Bus Center which is served by transit buses from Beach Cities Transit, Culver CityBus, Los Angeles Metro, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and Torrance Transit. Buses on this route also serve the Employee South Lot.
Route E – Economy Parking connects the Central Terminal Area and the West Intermodal Transportation Facility, the airport's economy parking garage.
Route M – Metro Connector connects the Central Terminal Area with the Aviation/LAX station on the Metro C Line and the Aviation/Century station on the C Line and K Line. Buses also stop at the "Remote Rental Car Depot", a bus stop served by shuttles to smaller rental car companies.
Route X – LAX Employee Lots connects the Central Terminal Area and the Employee Parking Lots. The route has three service patterns: the East Lot route only stops at Terminals 1, 2, 3, and B; the West Lot route only stops at Terminals 4, 5, 6, and 7; and the South Lot route stops at all terminals and also stops at the City Bus Center as Route C.
Most transit buses operate from the LAX City Bus Center, which is located away from the Central Terminal Area on 96th Street, east of Sepulveda Boulevard.
LAX Shuttle route C offers free connections between the LAX City Bus Center and the Central Terminal Area.
The LAX City Bus Center is served by Beach Cities Transit line 109 to Redondo Beach, Culver CityBus lines 6 and Rapid 6 to Culver City and UCLA, Los Angeles Metro Bus lines 102 to South Gate, 111 to Norwalk, 117 to Downey and 232 to Long Beach, Santa Monica Big Blue Bus lines 3 and Rapid 3 to Santa Monica, and Torrance Transit line 8 to Torrance. During the overnight hours, Los Angeles Metro line 40 offers service to Downtown Los Angeles.
The LAX City Bus Center will eventually be replaced by the LAX/Metro Transit Center station, which will be connected to the rest of LAX by the Automated People Mover system.
There is also a bus stop at Sepulveda Boulevard and Century Boulevard that is a 1⁄4-mile (0.40 km) walk away from Terminals 1 and 7/8 that is served by LADOT Commuter Express line 574 to Sylmar and Encino. This bus stop is also served by some of the same routes as the LAX City Bus Center: Los Angeles Metro lines 40 (overnight only), 117 and 232 and Torrance Transit line 8.
The FlyAway bus is a nonstop motorcoach/shuttle service run by LAWA, which provides scheduled service between LAX and Union Station in Downtown LA or the FlyAway terminal at the Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley.
FlyAway buses stop at every LAX terminal in a counter-clockwise direction, starting at terminal 1. The service hours vary based on the line, with most leaving on or near the top of the hour. Buses use the regional system of high-occupancy vehicle lanes and high-occupancy toll lanes (Metro ExpressLanes) to expedite their trips.
LAX does not currently have a direct connection to the Los Angeles Metro Rail system. LAX Shuttle route G offers free connections between the Central Terminal Area and the Aviation/LAX station on the C Line, 2.4 miles (3.9 km) away.
The LAX Automated People Mover (APM), currently under construction by LAWA, is a 2.25 miles (3.62 km) rail line that will connect the terminal area with long- and short-term parking facilities, a connection to the Los Angeles Metro Rail and other transit at the LAX/Metro Transit Center, and a consolidated facility for all airport rental car agencies.
The APM project is estimated to cost $5.5 billion and is scheduled to begin operation in 2025, with the connection to Metro Rail opening thereafter.
LAX's terminals are immediately west of the interchange between Century Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard (State Route 1). Interstate 405 can be reached to the east via Century Boulevard. Interstate 105 is to the south via Sepulveda Boulevard, through the Airport Tunnel that crosses under the airport runways.
Arriving passengers take a shuttle or walk to the LAXit waiting area east of Terminal 1 for taxi or ride-share pickups. Taxi services are operated by nine city-authorized taxi companies and regulated by Authorized Taxicab Supervision Inc. (ATS). ATS queues up taxis at the LAXit waiting area.
A number of private shuttle companies also offer limousine and bus services to LAX.
The airport has the administrative offices of Los Angeles World Airports.
Continental Airlines once had its corporate headquarters on the airport property. At a 1962 press conference in the office of Mayor of Los Angeles Sam Yorty, Continental Airlines announced that it planned to move its headquarters to Los Angeles in July 1963. In 1963 Continental Airlines headquarters moved to a two-story, $2.3 million building on the grounds of the airport. The July 2009 Continental Magazine issue stated that the move "underlined Continental Airlines western and Pacific orientation". On July 1, 1983 the airline's headquarters were relocated to the America Tower in the Neartown area of Houston.
In addition to Continental Airlines, Western Airlines and Flying Tiger Line also had their headquarters at LAX.
The Flight Path Museum LAX, formerly known as the Flight Path Learning Center, is a museum located at 6661 Imperial Highway and was formerly known as the "West Imperial Terminal". This building used to house some charter flights. It sat empty for 10 years until it was re-opened as a learning center for LAX.
The center contains information on the history of aviation, several pictures of the airport, as well as aircraft scale models, flight attendant uniforms, and general airline memorabilia such as playing cards, china, magazines, signs, and a TWA gate information sign.
The museum's library contains an extensive collection of rare items such as aircraft manufacturer company newsletters/magazines, technical manuals for both military and civilian aircraft, industry magazines dating back to World War II and before, historic photographs and other invaluable references on aircraft operation and manufacturing.
The museum has on display "The Spirit of Seventy-Six," a DC-3 that flew in commercial airline service, before serving as a corporate aircraft for Union 76 Oil Company for 32 years. The plane was built in the Douglas Aircraft Company plant in Santa Monica in January 1941, which was a major producer of both commercial and military aircraft.
During its history there have been numerous incidents, but only the most notable are summarized below:
The "Imperial Hill" area of El Segundo is a prime location for aircraft spotting, especially for takeoffs. Part of the Imperial Hill area has been set aside as a city park, Clutter's Park.
Another popular spotting location sits under the final approach for runways 24 L&R on a lawn next to the Westchester In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard. This is one of the few remaining locations in Southern California from which spotters may watch such a wide variety of low-flying commercial airliners from directly underneath a flight path.
Another aircraft spotting location is at a small park in the take-off pattern that normally goes out over the Pacific. The park is on the east side of the street Vista Del Mar, from which it takes its name, Vista Del Mar Park.
At 12:51 p.m. on Friday, September 21, 2012, a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft carrying the Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at LAX on runway 25L. An estimated 10,000 people saw the shuttle land. Interstate 105 was backed up for miles at a standstill. Imperial Highway was shut down for spectators. It was quickly taken off the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, a modified Boeing 747, and was moved to a United Airlines hangar. The shuttle spent about a month in the hangar while it was prepared to be transported to the California Science Center.
Numerous films and television shows have been set or filmed partially at LAX, at least partly due to the airport's proximity to Hollywood studios and Los Angeles. Film shoots at the Los Angeles airports, including LAX, produced $590 million for the Los Angeles region from 2002 to 2005.