Los Angeles International Airport
Los Angeles International Airport 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, 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, a branch of the Los Angeles city government, that also operates the Van Nuys Airport for general aviation. The airport covers of land and has four parallel runways.
In 2023, LAX handled 75,050,875 passengers, making it the world's eleventh-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.
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% of travelers at LAX were origination and destination passengers, and 12% 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, Long Beach, Ontario, and San Bernardino.
History
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 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, United Airlines, Southwest Airways, and Western Airlines began passenger operations at the airport, with Pan American Airways 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 structure was dedicated on June 25, 1961, by Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson.
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 and a LAX Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility 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. Ultra low-cost carriers say project costs have made operations at LAX unsustainable under their low-fare model, with fees hitting around $50 per departing passenger. As a result, Allegiant Air is shutting its LAX crew base and cutting several routes.
The "X" in LAX
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.Infrastructure
Airfield
Runways 24R/06L and 24L/06R are north of the airport terminals, while runways 25R/07L and 25L/07R 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, 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 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 was moved to the south to accommodate a new central taxiway. Runways in the North Airfield Complex are separated by. There were plans to increase the separation by, 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.