The Los Angeles International Airport, busiest among American airports, is the nation’s second-busiest airport. It serves a total of fourteen airports in the state of California. It is served by about 6.5 million passengers each year, making it the fifth largest airport in the US and the largest airport in the world, according to the latest stats. It also ranks third among all airports worldwide, when measured in terms of the total number of passenger trips taken in the past five years.
Role Of The Airport
The airport is one of those destinations which attract millions of travelers every year and it accounts for almost fifteen percent of the total tourism revenue of the county. This huge influx of tourists is the main reason behind the preparations for the second largest airport in US to be built in the city. A third airport was also proposed for Tijuana, Mexico, but it was never constructed as it would have required too much disturbance in the area. The third airport was finally built in San Diego. In recent times, the airport is also being planned for Las Vegas.
Today, nearly fourteen million people take a flight to Los Angeles every year. Of these, nearly six million fly to the city for business purposes and more than four million take cheap flights to LA. Over twenty airlines operate from the second largest airport in the country. Almost all of them are small operators. They fly to and from many major cities in the US.
LAX is served by two terminals. The primary terminal is the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) which is one of the busiest airports in the world. It handles around five hundred flights in a single day. It has four terminals including one at each end of the terminal. It also has one parking lot.
The other terminal is the San Diego International Airport (SDSA). It is a major commercial airport in the state with about thirteen million passengers who board flights to the US and Canada every year. It also has two terminals. One terminal handles domestic flights while the other one is for international flights. Both have three gates.
There are separate international airport gates for international flights. The largest airport in the US, Atlanta, has about eleven thousand flights per week. Of these, nearly five thousand (five hundred and fifty) are scheduled to land at the Atlanta airport. Almost all of them fly from LAX. The terminal buildings have about sixteen thousand gates.
All Terminals have air conditioning and wide-bodied doors. The first terminals have gates in each direction but the other terminals have gates in a single direction. The third terminal has the most extensive and expensive services than any other terminal at LAX. This one has about three thousand passenger terminals and four thousand gates. About one hundred and fifty gates are in each of the terminals for international flights.
Final Words
The other major airport in Los Angeles is the San Gabriel airport. Like LAX, there is a master plan for expansion that consists of a long-term strategy and a short term spur growth strategy. The long-term plan includes upgrading the existing terminals with more efficient technology including digital displays, automated gates and more. There are also several plans to build a new terminal in downtown Los Angeles. The short term plan involves adding the third International Bus Terminus to the north of the current terminal.
