Los Angeles International Airport

Introduction

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is one of the busiest airports in the world, handling over 60 million passengers a year. LAX is located in southwestern Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Westchester, 16 miles (27 kilometres) from the downtown core.

For more information about other airports throughout the world, also see the list of airports.

Getting there and away

There are different options to get to the airport:

• By car: take Century Boulevard exit (and several more northern exits) on Interstate 405, or the Sepulveda Boulevard exit on Interstate 105.
• By bus: many routes (local, rapid and express) of the LACMTA, Line 8 of Torrance Transit, Line 109 of Beach Cities Transit, and the regular as well as the rapid buses of both the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus system's Line 3 and the Culver CityBus's Line 6 all make stops at the LAX Transit Center in Parking Lot C.
• The FlyAway Bus is a shuttle service run by the LAWA, which travels between one of four off-airport locations: Van Nuys, Union Station, Westwood and the Irvine Transportation Center in Orange County. The shuttle service stops at every LAX terminal.
• Shuttle bus "G" offers a free connection to the Aviation/LAX station on the Metro Green Line.
• Taxis and private shuttles are obviously the most expensive option.

Airlines, Destinations and Terminals

The airport has 9 terminals: number 1 to 8 and the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT). For more information about the airlines also visit the List of Airlines.

Terminal 1

• Southwest Airlines - Albuquerque, Austin, Baltimore, Chicago-Midway, Denver, El Paso, Houston-Hobby, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Nashville, New Orleans, Oakland, Phoenix, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Tucson
• US Airways - Charlotte, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, Phoenix
• US Airways Express operated by Mesa Airlines - Las Vegas, Phoenix

Terminal 2

• Aeroméxico - Guadalajara, Mexico City
• Aeroméxico Connect - Aguascalientes, Culiacán, Hermosillo, León/El Bajío
• Air Canada - Calgary, Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver
• Air China - Beijing-Capital
• Air France - Papeete, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
• Air New Zealand - Apia, Auckland, London-Heathrow, Nuku'alofa (Tonga), Rarotonga
• Alitalia - Rome-Fiumicino
• Avianca - Bogotá
• Hawaiian Airlines - Honolulu
• KLM - Amsterdam
• LACSA - Guatemala City, San José de Costa Rica
• Sun Country Airlines - Minneapolis/St. Paul
• TACA - Guatemala City, San Salvador
• Virgin Atlantic Airways - London-Heathrow
• Volaris - Guadalajara, Morelia, Toluca, Zacatecas
• WestJet - Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver

Terminal 3

• Alaska Airlines - Anchorage, Guadalajara, Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Manzanillo, Mazatlán, Mexico City, Portland (OR), Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo, Seattle/Tacoma, Vancouver, Washington-Reagan
• Horizon Air - Boise, Eureka/Arcata, Flagstaff, La Paz, Loreto, Mammoth Lakes, Medford, Portland (OR), Prescott, Redding, Redmond/Bend, Reno/Tahoe, San Jose (CA), Santa Rosa, Seattle/Tacoma, Sun Valley
• V Australia - Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney
• Virgin America - Boston, Fort Lauderdale, New York-JFK, San Francisco, Seattle/Tacoma, Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles

Terminal 4

• American Airlines - Austin, Boston, Chicago-O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver, Eagle/Vail [seasonal], Honolulu, Kahului, Kona, Las Vegas, Lihue, London-Heathrow, Miami, Nashville, New York–JFK, Newark, Orlando, St. Louis, San Francisco, San José del Cabo, San Juan, San Salvador, Tokyo-Narita, Toronto-Pearson, Washington-Dulles
• American Eagle - Denver, Fresno, Monterey, Reno/Tahoe, Roswell, San Diego, San Jose (CA), Santa Barbara, Santa Fe
• Qantas - Auckland, Brisbane

Terminal 5

• Delta Air Lines (also uses Terminal 6 on these flights) - Atlanta, Cancún, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky, Columbus (OH), Detroit, Fort Lauderdale, Guadalajara, Guatemala City, Hartford, Honolulu, Indianapolis, Kahului, Kona, Lihue, Memphis, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New Orleans, New York–JFK, Orlando, Puerto Vallarta, Raleigh/Durham, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Sydney, Tampa, Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita
• Delta Connection operated by SkyWest Airlines - Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco

Terminal 6

• AirTran Airways - Atlanta, Baltimore, Milwaukee
• Allegiant Air - Bellingham, Billings, Des Moines, Eugene, Fargo, Fayetteville (AR), Grand Junction, Idaho Falls, Medford, Missoula, Pasco, Sioux Falls, Springfield (MO), Wichita
• Continental Airlines - Cleveland, Honolulu, Houston-Intercontinental, Kahului, Newark
• Copa Airlines - Panama City
• Frontier Airlines - Denver, Milwaukee
• Frontier Airlines operated by Republic Airlines - Denver, Kansas City
• JetBlue Airways - Boston, New York–JFK
• Spirit Airlines - Detroit, Fort Lauderdale
• United Airlines (also uses Terminals 7 and 8 on these flights) - Baltimore, Boston, Cancún, Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Honolulu, Jackson Hole, Kahului, Kona, Las Vegas, Lihue, London-Heathrow, Melbourne, Mexico City, New Orleans, New York–JFK, Orlando, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Puerto Vallarta, San Francisco, San José del Cabo, Sydney, Tokyo-Narita, Washington-Dulles

Terminal 7

• United Express operated by SkyWest Airlines (also uses Terminal 8 on these flights) - Albuquerque, Aspen, Bakersfield, Boise, Bozeman, Carlsbad, Colorado Springs, Dallas/Fort Worth, El Paso, Fresno, Houston-Intercontinental, Imperial, Inyokern, Jackson Hole, Las Vegas, Monterey, Montrose, Oklahoma City, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Portland (OR), Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Jose (CA), San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Seattle/Tacoma, Tucson, Tulsa, Vancouver, Yuma

TBIT

• Aeroflot - Moscow-Sheremetyevo
• Air Berlin - Düsseldorf
• Fiji Airways - Nadi
• Air Tahiti Nui - Papeete, Paris-Charles de Gaulle
• All Nippon Airways - Tokyo-Haneda, Tokyo-Narita
• Asiana Airlines - Seoul-Incheon
• British Airways - London-Heathrow
• Cathay Pacific Airways[b/] - Hong Kong
• [b]China Airlines - Taipei-Taoyuan
• China Eastern Airlines - Shanghai-Pudong
• China Southern Airlines - Guangzhou
• El Al - Tel Aviv
• Emirates - Dubai
• EVA Air - Taipei-Taoyuan
• Japan Airlines - Tokyo-Narita
• Korean Air - São Paulo-Guarulhos, Seoul-Incheon, Tokyo-Narita
• LAN Airlines - Lima, Santiago de Chile
• LAN Perú - Arequipa, Lima, Piura, Trujillo
• Lufthansa - Frankfurt, Munich
• Malaysia Airlines - Kuala Lumpur, Taipei-Taoyuan
• Mexicana - Cancún, Guadalajara, León/El Bajio, Mexico City, Morelia, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo, Zacatecas
• Philippine Airlines - Manila
• Qantas - Melbourne, Sydney
• Singapore Airlines - Singapore, Tokyo-Narita
• Swiss International Air Lines - Zürich
• Thai Airways International - Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi

Keeping connected

As of 2011, there is nowhere at LAX to buy a pre-paid USA sim card. Pre-paid sim cards with most of the major carriers can be purchased ahead of time online at usasims.com.