See also: List of airports in the Los Angeles area
Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX , ICAO: KLAX , FAA LID: LAX ) is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its IATA airport code LAX , with the letters usually pronounced individually (IPA: /ɛl.eɪ.ɛks/). LAX is located in southwestern Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Westchester, 16 mi (26 km) from the downtown core.
With 59,542,151 passengers in 2009, LAX is the seventh busiest airport in the world and is served by direct flights to North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East. The airport is a major hub for both United Airlines and Alaska Airlines and a focus city for American Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Allegiant Air, Air New Zealand and Virgin America. It also serves as an international gateway for Delta Air Lines.
The airport also functions as joint civil-military facility, providing a base for the United States Coast Guard and its Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles facility, operating 4 HH-65 Dolphin helicopters.
LAX is the busiest airport in California in terms of flight operations, passenger traffic and air cargo activity, followed by San Francisco International Airport (SFO). LAX is also the only U.S. airport to serve 3 or more international destinations with ridership of 1 million passengers or more per year (Tokyo-Narita, London-Heathrow, Taipei).
Although LAX is the busiest airport in the Greater Los Angeles Area, the region relies on a multiple airport system because of its vast size. Many of the area's most well-known attractions are closer to alternative airports than to LAX; for example, Hollywood and Griffith Park are closer to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, while Disneyland, the Honda Center, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, and other Orange County attractions are closer to John Wayne Airport in Orange County. Long Beach Airport is closer to some of the coastal attractions known to Southern California like Palos Verdes and Huntington Beach, and LA/Ontario International Airport is closer to the major cities of the Inland Empire, Riverside and San Bernardino.
Design
The airport occupies some 3,500 acres (5 sq mi; 14 km 2 ) of the city on the Pacific coast, about 15 mi (24 km) southwest of downtown Los Angeles. LAX is one of the most famous locations for commercial aircraft spotting, most notably at the so called "Imperial Hill" area (also known as Clutter's Park) in El Segundo from which nearly the entire South Complex of the airport can be viewed. Another famous spotting location sits right under the final approach for runways 24 L&R on a small grass lawn next to the Westchester In-N-Out Burger restaurant, and is noted as 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 flightpath. The airport's coastal location renders it liable to low lying cloud or fog conditions requiring flights to be occasionally diverted to LA/Ontario International Airport in Ontario, San Bernardino County 47 mi (76 km) to the east.
History
In 1928, the Los Angeles City Council selected 640 acres (1.00 sq mi; 2.6 km 2 ) in the southern part of Westchester as the site of a new airport for the city. The fields of wheat, barley and lima beans were converted into dirt landing strips without any terminal buildings. It was named Mines Field for William W. Mines, the real estate agent who arranged the deal. The first structure, Hangar No. 1, was erected in 1929 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Mines Field was dedicated and opened as the official airport of Los Angeles in 1930, and the city purchased it to be a municipal airfield in 1937. The name was officially changed to Los Angeles Airport in 1941, and to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in 1949. Prior to that time, the main airport for Los Angeles was the Grand Central Airport in Glendale.
Until this time, the entire airport was located east of Sepulveda Boulevard. As the airport expanded westward to meet the Pacific Ocean, a tunnel was completed in 1953 so that Sepulveda Boulevard would pass underneath the airport's runways. It was the first tunnel of its kind.
In 1958 the architecture firm Pereira & Luckman was contracted to design a master plan for the complete re-design of the airport in anticipation of the "jet age". The plan, developed along with architects Welton Becket and Paul Williams, called for a massive series of terminals and parking structures to be built in the central portion of the property, with these buildings connected at the center by a huge steel-and-glass dome. The plan was never fully realized, and shortly thereafter the Theme Building was constructed on the site originally intended for the dome.
The distinctive white "Theme Building", designed by Pereira & Luckman architect Paul Williams and constructed in 1961, resembles a flying saucer that has landed on its four legs. A restaurant that provides a sweeping view of the airport is suspended beneath two intersecting arches that form the legs. The Los Angeles City Council designated the building a cultural and historical 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. At one time, tourists and passengers were able to take the elevator up to the roof of the "Theme Building", but after the September 11 attacks, the rooftop was closed off to everyone for security reasons.
The first jet service appeared at LAX in 1959, transporting passengers between LAX and New York. The first wide-bodied jets appeared in 1970 when TWA flew Boeing 747s between LAX and New York.
In 1981, the airport began a substantial $700 million expansion in preparation for the 1984 Summer Olympics. To streamline traffic flow and ease congestion, the U-shaped roadway leading to the terminal entrances was given a second level, with the lower level dedicated to picking up arriving passengers and the upper level dedicated to dropping off departing passengers. Two new terminals (Terminal 1 and the International Terminal) were constructed and Terminal 2, then two decades old, was rebuilt. Multi-story parking structures were also built in the center of the airport.
On July 8, 1982, groundbreaking for the two new terminals were conducted by Mayor Tom Bradley and World War II aviator General James Doolittle. The $123 million, 963,000-square-foot (89,500 m 2 ) International Terminal was opened on June 11, 1984 and named in Bradley's honor.
In 1996, a new 277 foot (84 m) tall air traffic control tower, with overhanging awnings that shade the windows and make the building vaguely resemble a palm tree, was constructed at a cost of $29 million.
In 2000, prior to Los Angeles hosting the Democratic National Convention. fourteen acrylic glass cylinders, each up to ten stories high, were placed in a circle around the intersection of Sepulveda Boulevard and Century Boulevard, with additional cylinders of decreasing height following Century Boulevard eastward. The cylinders, lit from inside, slowly cycle through a rainbow of colors, and provide an additional landmark for visitors arriving by air at night. This was part of an overall facelift that included new signage and various other cosmetic enhancements. LAX pylons underwent improvements in 2006, as stage lighting inside the cylinders was replaced with LED lights to conserve energy, make maintenance easier and to enable on demand cycling through various color effects.
At various points in its history, LAX has been a hub for TWA, Air California, Continental, Delta, PSA, USAir, Western Airlines, and the Flying Tiger Line.
Starting in the mid-1990s under Los Angeles Mayors Richard Riordan and James Hahn modernization and expansion plans for LAX were prepared only to be stymied by a coalition spearheaded by residents who live near the airport angry at noise, pollution and traffic impacts of the existing facility. In late 2005 newly elected L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa was able to reach a compromise allowing some modernization to go forward while efforts are made to encourage future growth be spread among other facilities in the region.
It is illegal to limit the number of passengers that can use an airport; however, in December 2005 the city agreed to limit their construction of passengers gates to 163. Once passengers usage hits 75 million, a maximum of 2 gates a year for up to 10 gates will be closed, which theoretically will limit maximum growth to 79 million passengers a year. In exchange civil lawsuits were abandoned to allow the city to complete badly needed improvements to the airport.
On July 29, 2006, Runway 7R/25L was closed for reconstruction until March 25, 2007. The reconstruction was to move the runway 55 feet (17 m) south to prevent runway incursions and prepare the runwa
Flights to Los Angeles - British Airways
British Airways offers frequent flights to Los Angeles, landing at Los Angeles ... Flights to Chicago; Flights to Dallas; Flights to Denver; Flights to Florida; Flights to the ...
Cheap Flights to Los Angeles,Los Angeles Flights, Cheap Los Angeles ...
Find Cheap Flights to Los Angeles - Special Airfares & Tickets to Cheap Los Angeles ... Los Angeles $184: Chicago: Los Angeles $190: Tucson: Los Angeles $192: Houston: Los Angeles
Cheap flights to Los Angeles - Los Angeles Flights | Book a flight to ...
Cheap flights to Los Angeles mean a holiday of ... OTHER CHEAP FLIGHTS TO USA Don't want a flight to Los Angeles? Why not let Virgin Atlantic fly you to Boston, Chicago, New York, ...
Flights to Los Angeles | Flight Centre SA
Get cheap flights to Los Angeles from Flight Centre.. Home to Hollywood and the ... Flights to USA | Flights to Miami | Flights to Los Angeles | Flights to Chicago
Los Angeles Hotels, Vacations and Tourism, Los Angeles, CA Travel ...
Flights to Los Angeles - Learn how to find and book the best flights t ... Oprah says good-bye to Chicago; Survey ranks Heathrow, Charles de Gaulle and Los Angeles worst airports in the ...
Los Angeles Theatre - Your guide to the best Broadway theater, live ...
Los Angeles Theater ... Chicago - The Musical Dream Girls Fiddler on the Roof ... Flight of the Conchords Gypsy Kings Eric Clapton Faith Hill
Los Angeles, CA best flight prices leaving Los Angeles - Yapta
Save on flights from Los Angeles by tracking airfare prices with Yapta. Airfares ... Los Angeles Flights; San Diego Flights; Chicago Flights; Orlando Flights; San Francisco Flights
Los Angeles Cheap Flights - Search Flights to Los Angeles
Tourists book flights to Los Angeles with one goal: to see and be seen. The very thought of Los ... Fort Lauderdale; Phoenix; Chicago; Boston; Dallas; Washington; Mexico; Europe
Cheap Flights | Package Holidays | Cheap Holidays
Create your own adventure, romance or comedy story with a holiday in the world's film capital Los Angeles. Despite its distance from the UK, finding a cheap flight to LA is ...
Los Angeles, CA flights to Chicago, IL - best flight prices - Yapta
Los Angeles, CA to Chicago, IL - Research airline ticket prices. Find deals on airline tickets by seeing what flights and prices other Yapta customers are tracking right now.