Like the city it serves, Los Angeles International Airport is huge, very busy and often crowded. The airport began as a dirt landing strip in 1928 and a hangar, which is still preserved, was erected the following year. Commercial flights began in 1946, and the airport now has flights to all 6 inhabited continents. The facility currently consists of 8 domestic terminals and the Tom Bradley International Terminal. The airport has been shown in hundreds of movies, TV shows and video games.
The airport is located 16 miles (26 km) from downtown, and is immediately west of the interchange between Century Boulevard and Sepulveda Boulevard (state route 1). These connect to the 405 and 105 Freeways, and travel time from downtown is about 24 minutes but can be longer. Taxi fares depend on destination and starting point and include a $4.00 airport surcharge, but are around $46.00 plus tip from downtown and $40.00 from Hollywood. Car services quote rates around $40 for private sedan transportation, more for limousines. For safe and reliable transportation book for Los Angeles airport taxi here.
There are several options for bus or train transport. The airport authority operates FlyAway coaches to Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley, Union Station in downtown Los Angeles and Westwood on the west side of the county. Coaches run every half hour around the clock, and the fare is $8-10.00. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA or “Metro”), Beach Cities Metro (serving seaside suburbs), Culver City Transit, Torrance Transit and Santa Monica Big Blue Bus systems connect the city and multiple suburbs with the LAX Transit Center in Parking Lot “C” and the airport station of the Metro Rail Green line; the terminal is then reached by shuttle buses C and G, respectively. Metro bus fare is $1.75, and transfers to one of the other lines cost 50 cents. The “Owl” line (number 111) runs all night. The Metro Rail Green Line has a station (Aviation/LAX) at the entrance to the airport, which is served by shuttle bus G to the terminal. Trains run from 4 a.m. until midnight (2 a.m. weekends), and the fare is $1.75.