A short history of LAX
LAX began in 1928 as Mines Field, a dirt landing strip among bean fields south-west of Los Angeles. It became the city’s main airport after World War II, and the space-age Theme Building, opened in 1961, became one of the most recognisable airport landmarks in the world. The three-letter code is a leftover from the days when airports used two-letter codes: the city simply added an X.
What you’ll see on the live cams
LAX handles a mix that few airports can match. Domestic traffic from the four big US airlines fills the gaps between transpacific heavies: Qantas and Emirates A380s, Korean Air and EVA Air 777s, Singapore Airlines A350s and a steady stream of Atlas, FedEx and UPS freighters. The streams from AirlineVideosLive+ add live tower frequencies, so you can hear controllers sequencing arrivals that can be just two minutes apart.
How traffic flows
The airport has two pairs of parallel runways. The inner runways (24R and 25L) are mostly used for departures and the outer runways (24L and 25R) for arrivals, which keeps heavy jets away from the terminals and spreads noise. In normal westerly operations, aircraft approach over Inglewood and depart over the Pacific Ocean, turning back over the coast. Overnight, from around midnight to 06:30, LAX switches to over-ocean operations to reduce noise for nearby neighbourhoods.
Best times to watch
- Early morning (05:00–08:00): red-eye arrivals from Asia and Australia, often in soft light.
- Afternoon: steady domestic traffic and the best lighting on the south complex.
- Late evening (21:00–00:30): the long-haul departure bank – the most widebodies of the day.
