Los Angeles Airport Guide: Gateway to the Pacific
Los Angeles Airport is the west coast's main gateway to Asia and the Pacific, with four airline hubs. Runways, the horseshoe of terminals, access and spotting.
By The Aviation Hub
7 min read
Updated October 20, 2026 
Los Angeles Airport sits on the coast at Westchester, about 18 miles (29 km) southwest of downtown, with its western runways ending just short of the Pacific dunes. Four passenger airlines call it a hub, and it is the busiest gateway on the American west coast for flights to Asia and Australasia. Around 73.7 million passengers used it in 2025, a slight dip from the year before. The famous horseshoe of terminals is in the middle of a 30 billion dollar rebuild that will change how everyone arrives.
Los Angeles Airport at a Glance
The IATA code is LAX and the ICAO code is KLAX. The central terminal area lies around 18 miles (29 km) from downtown Los Angeles and about 2 miles (3 km) from Dockweiler State Beach. Elevation is 125 feet (38 m), on the coastal bluff above Santa Monica Bay.
Four parallel runways serve nine passenger terminals with 161 gates, arranged in a U shape around a central loop road. Traffic in 2025 was roughly 73.7 million passengers. Alaska, American, Delta and United all run hubs here, Southwest has a large base, JetBlue treats it as a focus city, and Atlas Air, Kalitta Air and Polar Air Cargo are based on the cargo side. Los Angeles World Airports, a department of the city government, owns and operates the field. Construction updates and terminal maps are posted on the airport’s official website.
How Los Angeles Got Its Airport
The city chose a 640 acre bean field in Westchester, promoted by an estate agent named William Mines, and opened it as Mines Field in October 1928. It became Los Angeles Municipal Airport in 1930 and Los Angeles International Airport in 1949. The famous three letter code arrived in 1947 when the old two letter LA was expanded, and the X has no particular meaning.
The jet age layout dates from 1961, when Terminals 2 to 8 opened around the new central loop alongside the Theme Building, a flying saucer on four legs that remains a city landmark. Terminal 1 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal followed in 1984 in time for the Olympics. Later milestones include the rebuilt Bradley terminal of 2013 and the Midfield Satellite Concourse of 2021.
The worst accident on the field came in February 1991, when a USAir Boeing 737 landed on top of a SkyWest Metroliner holding on runway 24L, killing 35 people. A shooting in Terminal 3 killed a security officer in 2013. The airport has otherwise been defined by congestion, both on the ramp and on the roads that feed it.
Runways at Los Angeles Airport
Los Angeles Airport has four concrete runways in two parallel pairs, one north of the terminals and one south. The longest is 7L/25R on the south side at 3,930 metres (12,894 feet), used for most heavy departures to Asia and the Middle East. Its neighbour 7R/25L is 3,382 metres (11,095 feet) long and 61 metres wide. On the north side, 6R/24L measures 3,310 metres (10,859 feet) and 6L/24R is 2,721 metres (8,926 feet).
The sea breeze keeps the airport on westerly operations for the vast majority of the time, with arrivals from the east over Inglewood and departures straight out over the ocean. The outer runways generally take landings and the inner pair departures. Between midnight and 06:30 the airport switches to over ocean operations when traffic permits, so arrivals come in from the sea while departures still head west, a noise abatement measure that has existed for decades. Runway crossings between the inner and outer strips were a persistent hazard until the south side was reconfigured.
Terminals and Airlines
The nine terminals at Los Angeles Airport run anticlockwise around the loop. Terminal 1 belongs to Southwest, Terminals 2 and 3 to Delta after a complete rebuild, and Terminals 4 and 5 to American and its oneworld partners. Terminal 6 houses Alaska and a mix of others, while Terminals 7 and 8 are United’s. The Tom Bradley International Terminal sits at the western end of the horseshoe and handles most foreign carriers, from British Airways, Qantas and Emirates to the big Asian airlines, with the Midfield Satellite Concourse reached by an underground walkway.
Airside connectors now link Bradley with Terminals 3 and 4 and the whole southern side, so most connections no longer require a trip outside security. Even so, moving between the north and south legs of the U can mean a shuttle bus and a long walk. Lounges at Bradley, including the Qantas First and Star Alliance facilities, are among the best in the country.
Routes and Destinations
New York JFK, San Francisco and Chicago O’Hare were the busiest domestic routes in the year to June 2026, with the transcontinental JFK run served by American, Delta, United, JetBlue and Alaska in premium heavy configurations. Honolulu and Las Vegas follow. The Hawaiian islands generate a steady flow of flights on Hawaiian, Delta and United.
Internationally from Los Angeles Airport, London Heathrow, Tokyo Haneda and Guadalajara lead. Mexico provides enormous volume, and Asia is the long haul heart of the schedule with Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila and Singapore all served nonstop. The longest route is Singapore Airlines’ nonstop Airbus A350-900 service of about 8,770 miles (14,100 km), followed by the Gulf flights to Dubai and Doha. Cargo is huge, with more than two million tonnes a year passing through the complexes on the southern side of the field.
Getting to and from Los Angeles Airport
For decades Los Angeles Airport had no rail connection. The LAX Metro Transit Center opened in 2025 about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of the terminals and is served by the Metro C and K lines, with the free Shuttle Route M linking it to the central loop until the SkyLink people mover opens, now expected in January 2027. A Metro fare of under two dollars makes it the cheapest sensible route, though journeys downtown take an hour with a change.
The FlyAway bus runs nonstop to Union Station downtown for around 10 dollars (£8) and takes 35 to 60 minutes depending on the traffic. Taxis and rideshares collect from a dedicated pickup lot beside Terminal 1, reached by a short shuttle, with downtown fares of 50 to 70 dollars (£40 to £56). Road access is via Century Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard off Interstate 405, and the loop road is often gridlocked. Economy parking lots and the consolidated rental car centre sit east of the field.
Spotting and Photography
Few airports have a spotting location as famous as the In-N-Out Burger on Sepulveda Boulevard. The grass strip beside it sits directly under the approach to runways 24L and 24R, and aircraft pass low enough to read the registrations. Clutter’s Park, a small hill in El Segundo on Imperial Highway, overlooks the whole south complex and is ideal for morning light on departures from 25R. The Proud Bird restaurant on Aviation Boulevard has a patio facing arrivals on the 25s.
The variety at Los Angeles Airport is unmatched in the United States: every major Asian carrier, Airbus A380s from Emirates, Qantas, British Airways and Korean Air, Qantas 787s, and a dense mix of domestic traffic. Westerly operations are the norm, so plan around the 24s and 25s. Afternoon light favours the In-N-Out spot. Airport police are used to spotters but will move anyone standing on the roadway or parking illegally, so use the car park, stay off Sepulveda itself and respect the fences on the Imperial Highway side.
What Comes Next
The modernisation programme is the largest public works effort in the city’s history. SkyLink, the 2.25 mile automated people mover, will connect the terminals with the Metro station, the rental car centre and new parking garages, finally offering a way in that avoids the loop road. Terminals 4 and 5 are being rebuilt by 2028, roads are being reconfigured by 2030, and new Terminals 0 and 9 are planned at each end of the horseshoe, lifting the gate count to 182.
The costs are falling on airlines, with fees of around 50 dollars per departing passenger prompting ultra low cost carriers to cut back and Allegiant to close its crew base. The airport is betting on the 2028 Olympics and a long haul recovery to justify the spend. Los Angeles Airport will remain the Pacific gateway, but it may never regain the passenger numbers it saw before 2020. Compare it with other hubs on our Airports of the World map.
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