(Los Angeles) Today, the Los Angeles Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) unanimously approved a new Airline Service Incentive Program for airlines seeking to offer new or returning service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and select international markets.

 

The new program offers competitive financial and marketing assistance for airlines and underscores Los Angeles World Airports' (LAWA) priority of opening service to new and underserved markets to help boost international service.

 

"LAX’s Airline Service Incentive Program will strengthen our position as the premier West Coast gateway to the world by providing an incentive for airlines to operate and thrive at one of the busiest airports in the world," said Beatrice Hsu, President, BOAC. "This investment will pay dividends as we recruit new service to underserved and unserved international markets and more quickly bring back service we lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic."

 

"As we come out of the COVID-19 pandemic, we believe our airline incentive program will help us regain our international passenger numbers more quickly, providing a boost to the local economy, creating new routes to key destinations and allowing us to serve even more travelers as the demand for air travel increases around the world," said Justin Erbacci, Chief Executive Officer, LAWA. "We are creating the airport of the future through our $15 billion modernization which, in combination with this incentive program, will make us an even more attractive market for airlines."

 

The incentive program, which will begin May 1 and remain in effect until May 1, 2024, is open to both new and current airlines at LAX. To qualify, an airline must offer new international passenger service that is nonstop to a destination that is either not currently served or that has been unserved from LAX for at least two years. The destination must be within a country, region or market identified as a priority by LAWA. In order to receive incentives, new routes must meet certain service requirements and begin within the program term.

The program incentivizes new routes by providing airlines with reduced landing fees through quarterly credits from LAWA. Landing fees can be reduced by 100% in the service's first year and by 50% in its second year. Airlines offering new seasonal service, which is defined as offering flights for six consecutive months for two years in a row, can reduce landing fees by 50% each year for up to two years.

LAWA also will help new airlines promote their inaugural services at LAX. Airlines offering either regular or seasonal service can take advantage of either $50,000 in non-matched marketing funds in its first year, or receive up to a total of $200,000 in a combination of matching funds from LAWA. These additional benefits are designed to incentivize airlines to restart service at LAX first.

For airlines already serving LAX, LAWA has created a pool of up to $10 million in landing fee credits available for new service routes on a first-come,first-served basis, in addition to marketing assistance. Airlines can reduce landing fees by 25% for the first year of reinstated, continuous service. LAWA also will provide $50,000 to promote reinstated service at LAX and destination airports.

Current priority markets include many popular destinations in Asia, Europe and Latin America, inclusive of the Caribbean.

An airline will not qualify for incentives if it switches service from a currently served market to a new priority market. An airline serving LAX can qualify only if it continues to serve its current international destinations and adds service to a qualifying priority market. Service that is cancelled during the program term will disqualify airlines from receiving incentives.

About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)

LAX, the fifth-busiest airport in the world in 2021 with 48 million passengers, is in the midst of a $15-billion capital improvement program that will touch on all nine passenger terminals and build new facilities, including an Automated People Mover (APM) train, Consolidated Rent-A-Car (ConRAC) facility and the West Gates at Tom Bradley International Terminal.

In 2019, LAX served nearly 88.1 million passengers and offered an average of 700 daily nonstop flights to 113 destinations in the U.S. and 1,200 weekly nonstop flights to 91 markets in 46 countries on 72 commercial airlines.

LAX generates 620,600 jobs in Southern California, with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion, according to an economic study based on 2014 operations. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX's ongoing capital improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion; $966 million in state and local taxes; and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.

LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City's general fund.

LAWA is leading the aviation industry in sustainability practices, with initiatives related to water management, energy (electricity) management, air quality, recycling and natural resources management. In 2019, LAX received Level III ACI Airport Carbon Accreditation from Airports Council International-Europe.

LAWA is also a leader in inclusivity, operating eight programs that provide opportunities for business enterprises including local, small, minority-owned, veteran-owned and disadvantaged firms, and working together with community partners to offer the HireLAX Apprenticeship Readiness Program, which targets local workers to make them ready for rewarding careers in the construction trades, and the Build LAX Academy, designed to prepare small contracting businesses for success when working on projects at LAX.

LAX was named a top-10 U.S. airport by SKYTRAX in 2018, and was honored as the "Most Innovative Airport for Passenger Experience" in 2019 by the American Association of Airport Executives. LAX is the second-most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram, according to wego.com. Other recent honors have included selection as the No. 9 Best Airport (Wall Street Journal); No. 7 Best On-Time Performance for a Mega-Hub Airport (OAG); one of "The World's Best Airports for Business Travelers" (GlobeHunters); Public-Private Partnership of the Year (P3 Bulletin); Urth Caffe, Best Airport Coffee Concession of the Year (Global FAB Awards); Innovation of the Year, Consolidated Rent-A-Car Facility (ARTBA); Best Project, United Airlines Terminal 7 and 8 Redevelopment Program (Engineering News Record California); North American Public-Private Partnership Deal of the Year (IJ Global); and Innovative Transportation Solution of the Year, Automated People Mover (WTS LA).

As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.

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