Los Angeles International Airport, code LAX is some 15 miles or 25 km
away from the city of LA. It can be contacted by phone on: +1 310 646
5252. There are 8 terminals as follows:
Terminal 1 is
for America West, Southwest and US Airways.
Terminal 2 is
for Northwest flights plus Air Canada, Air New Zealand, ATA, Hawaiian,
KLM, Virgin Atlantic and others.
Terminal 3 serves
Alaska, American, Frontier, Horizon and Midwest Express.
Terminal 4 is
the American Airlines terminal.
Terminal 5 is
for Aeromexico, American, Delta, Spirit, Vanguard and other airlines.
Terminal 6 serves
Continental, Copa, National and some United Airlines flights.
Terminal 7 is
the United Airlines terminal.
Terminal B The
Tom Bradley International Terminal serves most non-US airlines.
Back in the 1920s, today’s LA airport stands on the site of wheat
and barley fields and what was back then part of Southern California’s
wealthy ranching land.
Although there was no federal money available for investment, LA’s
Chamber of Commerce promoted the idea of building a municipal airport
on the land even though flying was still a fledgling activity. In 1928
they chose Mines Field from a list of 27 possible sites, named after a
real estate agent called William W. Mines who represented the ranching
interests. For years, the people of LA refused to call their airport
anything else. The city leased 640 acres for ten years and aviation got
an immediate boost when America’s National Air Races brought the crowds
flocking to Mines Field to see pilots like the legendary Charles Lindbergh.
Los Angeles Municipal Airport was officially dedicated in 1930 when the
lease was extended to 50 years. The depression years were hard for LA
until the arrival of such as Douglas, Northrop and North American who
established the area as an aircraft manufacturing centre. After the Depression,
airlines increasingly came to LAX and to encourage further investment,
the city bought the lease and became full owners of the land.
As a result of WW2, Southern California and the area around LA had become
the hub of America’s aircraft industry. The airport management had already
laid its post-war plans and in 1946, with all five major airlines installed,
commercial operations began. Five years later, as world routes were developed,
Los Angeles added ‘International’ to its title and in 1952 it made its
first profit. A new terminal was built, the forerunner of huge development
as the jet age arrived and the ten million passenger mark was reached
in 1965. Since then expansion projects have come thick and fast with
a $700 million improvement program, started in 1981, providing two new
terminals and a $3.5 million cargo centre. Hangar Number One, the first
building ever constructed at Los Angeles Airport in 1929, is still in
use and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. LAX has
never looked back!
For information by e-mail, infoline@airports.ci.la.ca.us
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