Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) is the primary international gateway for Southern California, located 18 miles southwest of downtown Los Angeles and operated by the city's Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA). As the busiest airport on the U.S. West Coast, it handled over 75 million passengers in 2023 and nearly 76.6 million in 2024, ranking as the world's eleventh-busiest airport. Uniquely, LAX holds the record as the world's busiest origin and destination airport, with roughly 88% of travelers starting or ending their trips there rather than connecting, and it is the only U.S. airport to rank in the top five for both passenger and cargo traffic. The airport's history dates to 1928, when it opened as Mines Field on a former agricultural site, was renamed Los Angeles Municipal Airport in 1930, and was taken over by the military during World War II before becoming a major commercial hub. Today, it serves as a base for more passenger airlines than any other U.S. airport, and its historic Hangar No. 1 (built in 1929) still stands and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.