Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) was established in 1928 as Mines Field and was renamed to LAX in 1949. The airport began its life as a small airfield with a single runway, but has since grown to include nine terminals and four parallel runways. LAX is now the fourth busiest airport in the world by passenger traffic, serving over 87 million passengers annually. The airport is also an important cargo hub, handling over two million tons of cargo annually. LAX has played an important role in the development of Los Angeles and Southern California, serving as a major hub for both domestic and international travel. Throughout its history, the airport has been home to several aviation firsts, including the first commercial flight between Los Angeles and San Francisco in 1929 and the first nonstop transpacific flight from Los Angeles to Tokyo in 1960. It has also been used extensively by the military throughout its history, becoming an important base for air defense during World War II. Today, LAX continues to be an important gateway for international travelers coming into Southern California.
LAX is the abbreviation code for Los Angeles International Airport. According to Abbreviation Finder, LAX can also mean:
Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX)
The Los Angeles International Airport is the main commercial airport in the US state of California and an important hub for Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, United Airlines and Virgin America. In terms of annual flight movements, passengers and air freight figures, it is one of the ten largest airports in the world.
In addition to Los Angeles International, the LA / Ontario Int. Airport in San Bernadino County and the Van Nuys Airportin the San Fernando Valley, but this is currently not used commercially. The “FlyAway” is a regular shuttle bus service between the three airports, which is offered by the Los Angeles World Airports Department (LAWA).
- URL: Los Angeles International Airport, CA (LAX)
- Time zone: GMT -8
- Service phone: +1 855 463-5252
- Address: Los Angeles International Airport, PO Box 92216, 1 World Way, Los Angeles, CA 90045, USA
- Operator: Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA)
- Parking spaces: yes, subject to a charge; more than 21,100 short-term and long-term parking spaces
- Nearby cities: Inglewood (5 km), Torrance (13 km), Los Angeles (19 km), East Los Angeles (15 km), Downey (25 km), Glendale (26 km), Burbank (28 km), Long Beach (28 miles), North Glendale (28 miles), Norwalk (30 miles)
- Transport links: Interstate I-405 (Exit 47 + 48); Interstate I-105 and State Route # 1 (Highway # 1)
- Train Connections: Amtrak’s Coast Starlight routes stop regularly at LA Union Station; “Pacific Surfliner”; “Southwest Chief”; “Sunset Limited” and “Texas Eagle”.
- Flight distribution on the days of the week: Monday (14.61%), Tuesday (13.63%), Wednesday (14.32%), Thursday (14.59%), Friday (14.77%), Saturday (13.31%), Sunday (14.76%)
- other spellings: LA, LA, Los Anceles, Los Andželas, Losandželosa, Los Anđeles, Los anjeles, Лос Анжелес, Лос-Анджелес, Лос-Анџелес, Лос-Анджэлес, Лос Анджелис, Лос Анђелес, Λος Άντζελες, Լոս Անջելես, ლოს- ანჯელესი, لوس أنجلوس, لوس انجليس, لسآنجلس, לוס אנג’לס, לאס אנדזשעלעס, लॉस एंजेल्स, लॉस ऐन्जेलिस, লস অ্যাঞ্জেলেস, லாஸ் ஏஞ்சலஸ், ロ サ ン ส ル ス, 로스 앤젤레스 ลิ อ, 로스 앤젤레스, ล อ
Most popular destinations from Los Angeles International Airport, CA (flights per week)
- San Francisco International Airport, CA (387, 4.70%)
- Las Vegas – McCarran International Airport, NV (352, 4.27%)
- New York – John F. Kennedy International Airport, NY (291, 3.53%)
- Denver International Airport, CO (284, 3.45%)
- Seattle – Tacoma International Airport, WA (262, 3.18%)
- San Jose International, CA (219, 2.66%)
- Phoenix – Sky Harbor International Airport (205, 2.49%)
- Dallas – Fort Worth International Airport, TX (187, 2.27%)
- Portland International Airport, Oregon (183, 2.22%)
- Sacramento International Airport, CA (168, 2.04%)
- Other (69.19%)
Top airlines (share of take-offs / landings)
- Southwest Airlines (3129, 5.80%)
- Virgin Australia (2629, 4.87%)
- Air New Zealand (2374, 4.40%)
- Qantas Airways (2127, 3.94%)
- Virgin Atlantic Airways (2123, 3.93%)
- Alaska Airlines (1978, 3.66%)
- Korean Air Lines (1775, 3.29%)
- United Airlines (1700, 3.15%)
- Westjet (1558, 2.89%)
- Aeroméxico (1489, 2.76%)
- Other (61.31%)
Location
The airport, which was officially opened in 1937, is located approx. 20 kilometers southwest of downtown Los Angeles. The terminal area can be reached via Interstate I-405 at exits 47 and 48 (San Diego Freeway), via Interstate I-105 (Glenn Anderson Freeway) or via California State Route # 1 (Highway 1).
In the transfer area all yellow signal signs for the taxis are marked, for the car rental companies in purple, for the shuttle buses within Los Angeles in blue, for longer distances e.g. to Santa Barbara in green, for the vans and limousines in orange and for the hotel buses in red.
All free shuttles are marked with letters. The A – bus shuttles to connect the terminals, the C-bus shuttlesdrive to parking area C, the G-bus shuttle transports passengers to the “Green Line” metro station. To get downtown, first take the “Green Line” to Imperial / Wilmington Station (LACMTA Station) and then change to the “Blue Line”.
Several local bus routes stop at LAX City Bus Center, e.g. bus route # 3 to Santa Monica, # 6 to Westwood, # 8 to Torrance, # 42 Wilmington, # 111 Norwalk Station, # 117 Lakewood Station, # 232 to Long Beach, # 439 to Downtown, # 625 to Jefferson or # 715 to Downey.
The “FlyAway” shuttle bus runs several times a day between LA International and Ontario Airport in San Bernadino County, some 80 kilometers to the east. In addition, the “FlyAway” provides a connection to the Irvine Amtrak Station, located approx. 80 kilometers south-east, to the Westwood district approx. 20 kilometers to the north and to the Union Station (AMTRAK) in downtown.
Other daily bus connections include the Southern California Gray Line to the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, an airport bus to Bakersfield, the “Antelope Express” to Acton, Lancaster and Palmdale (Antelope Valley), the “SB-Airbus” to Carpinteria, Goleta and Santa Barbara or with the “Ventura County Airporter” to Ventura. You can find out all current departure times directly on site or on the Internet. Otherwise, it is also possible to travel to and from the airport by taxi.
History
The airport area on the Pacific Ocean, south of the Westchester district, was chosen for air traffic as early as 1928. The area then known as Mines Field, named after William M. Mines, the real estate agent who handled the purchase agreement, initially consisted of a provisional and unpaved runway. The first buildings accessible to passengers (wooden barracks) were only erected in late summer of the following year.
It was not until 1937 that the city bought the airport, founded its own department and renamed it Los Angeles Airport in 1941, the first renaming and upgrading to Los Angeles International Airport followed in 1949. Until then, the Grand Central Air Terminal was in Glendale, before and after the war, the local commercial airport in the metropolitan area.
Due to the steadily growing volume of traffic after the Second World War and the beginning of the age of jet planes, a concept was drawn up in 1958 by several well-known architects to design the airport area for the future. The first project was a station building completed in 1961, which has the shape of a UFO with four wings. The first jet from New York landed in 1959 and the first jumbo jets (Boeing 747) finally followed in 1970 when the then TWA used them on its route from New York to Los Angeles.
A further expansion of the area finally followed in 1981 when it became known that Los Angeles was to be the venue for the 1984 Summer Olympics, for which the airport commission provided the sum of around 700 million dollars. The old terminal was to be completely renewed, and it was also agreed to construct another terminal for domestic American and one for international scheduled air traffic. The groundbreaking ceremony for this followed the following July by the then Mayor Tom Bradley, after whom the international terminal was named, and the highly respected Air Force General James Harold Doolittle. The official opening of the renovated and expanded airport area took place one month before the Olympics, on June 11, 1984.
Another new terminal for the Airbus A380 was expanded and inaugurated in 2007, and the expansion of a fully automatic underground people mover is planned, which will connect all eight terminals with the metro. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2017 and be completed by 2024.