RECORD 2.1 MILLION PASSENGERS EXPECTED AT LAX THIS THANKSGIVING; LAX TO BE BUSIEST U.S. AIRPORT THIS HOLIDAY TRAVEL PERIOD

            Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield were joined today by airport officials to announce that a record 2.1 million travelers will pass through Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) this Thanksgiving, an increase of 6.9 percent over last Thanksgiving’s record of 1.96 million actual passengers.  According to online travel company Orbitz.com, LAX will be the busiest among all U.S. airports this Thanksgiving – the third year in a row.

            "As more people choose to work, visit, study, and play in Los Angeles, LAX keeps on breaking records," said Mayor Garcetti.  "L.A. is a world-class destination for visitors from around the globe, and this is great news for our local economy."

“As we prepare for a busy holiday season, we urge LAX travelers take steps to ensure that their travel experience goes as smoothly as possible, and know that during the holidays, as we do every single day, the airport, Airport Police, and Los Angeles Police Department -- working in collaboration with our partner agencies at the federal level -- are taking every step to keep Angelenos and visitors from around the world, safe,” said Councilmember Blumenfield, who chairs the City’s Trade, Commerce, and Technology Committee.

The start and end of the 11-day travel period are expected to be the busiest, with an estimated 205,000 passengers each day on Friday, November 20; Saturday, November 21; and Sunday, November 29; and then 219,000 passengers on Monday, November 30.  The slowest days are expected to be Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, with 147,000 and 170,000 passengers,  respectively.  For comparison, average daily passenger volume at LAX is 193,000.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is expected to be the fifth busiest day of the travel period, continuing Thanksgiving

Eve’s slide over the past few years from its former ranking as the busiest air travel day of the year.  Nonetheless, an estimated 197,000 travelers are expected Wednesday, November 25, almost five percent higher than last year’s Thanksgiving Eve.

            Passengers should expect to see busy terminals and many domestic flights 90 percent full.  Flights between LAX and cities that are traditionally popular with Southern Californians -- such as San Francisco, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, and Boston – may be fully booked.

An estimated 947,000 vehicles are expected to use the upper- and lower-level roadways in the LAX Central Terminal Area during Thanksgiving, or a daily average of 86,000 vehicles.  Travelers are strongly encouraged to take public transportation to and from LAX, including the inexpensive LAX FlyAway® bus and Metro Rail Green Line, as well as taxis, long-distance buses, and other shared-ride services.

Airport officials also recommend motorists picking up arriving passengers to use the LAX Cellphone Waiting Lot at 96th Street and Vicksburg, where they can wait up to two hours for free.  Motorists can avoid driving in the terminal area altogether by asking arriving passengers to take the free LAX Shuttle “C” bus to Parking Lot C, adjacent to the LAX Cellphone Waiting Lot.

            Airport officials recommend passengers planning to depart LAX during daily peak travel periods – from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.; from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. – arrive in their airline’s ticketing lobbies two hours before domestic flights and three hours before international flights.

Anticipating an increase in the number of travelers, there will be a construction moratorium during the Thanksgiving holiday period on projects causing significant impacts to passenger flow.  If  coming to the airport, passengers should look for and follow the comprehensive way-finding signage near all construction sites.

In-Terminal Passenger Assistance 

To help departing passengers catch their flights on time, the airport will continue its popular LAWA employee volunteer program.  Wearing red vests, airport employees will roam the Upper/Departures Level in all terminals the day before and the Monday after Thanksgiving to assist passengers.  This is in addition to the Volunteer Information Professionals and Customer Service Representatives regularly assigned to assist passengers in the terminals.

            LAX's cadre of trained therapy dogs and handlers, called PUPs (Pets Unstressing Passengers), will also roam through the boarding gate areas of each terminal to provide a less stressful airport environment by visiting passengers awaiting flights, providing comfort, and offering airport information.

Timely information on flight status, traffic conditions, and other travel tips is available on LAX’s Internet website at www.lawa.org/lax, and LAX’s Twitter@flyLAXairport and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport.  Los Angeles Airport Police's Twitter @LAXPD_Alerts also provides up-to-date information on traffic conditions at LAX.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

            LAX is the fifth busiest airport in the world and second in the United States.  LAX served nearly 70.7 million passengers in 2014.  LAX offers 692 daily nonstop flights to 85 cities in the U.S. and 928 weekly nonstop flights to 67 cities in 34 countries on 59 commercial air carriers.  LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with over two million tons of air cargo valued at nearly $96.3 billion. An economic study in 2011 reported that operations at LAX generated 294,400 jobs in Los Angeles County with labor income of $13.6 billion and economic output of more than $39.7 billion.  This activity added $2.5 billion to local and state revenues.  LAX is part of a system of three Southern California airports – along with LA/Ontario International and Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.

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