America’s Pacific gateway: 73.7 million passengers, a third of them international, and a 2019 record still waiting to be reclaimed.
Los Angeles International is America’s premier Pacific gateway and its most origin-and-destination airport — yet it is still 14 million passengers short of its own record.
LAX handled 73.71 million passengers in 2025, a 3.76% decline — roughly 202,000 travelers a day. Domestic traffic held at 50.11 million (68% of the total); international reached 23.60 million, with the Tom Bradley International Terminal alone processing 14.09 million.
Delta leads with an 18.9% share, ahead of United and American, making LAX the most contested three-way hub in the country.
The busiest international routes are London Heathrow (1.42M seats), Seoul Incheon (1.19M) and Tokyo Haneda (1.11M) — a route map that mirrors the Pacific economy.
Cargo remains a second engine: 2.29 million tonnes in 2025, keeping LAX among the world’s top freight airports.
The 2019 record of 88.07 million stays out of reach while U.S. inbound travel lags; the automated People Mover and the Consolidated Rent-A-Car facility are the landside fixes built for the events decade.
LAX is the airport that measures America’s Pacific gravity. When Seoul and Tokyo route pairs grow while Canada collapses, the map tells you exactly where the hemisphere’s momentum sits. The airport’s problem is not demand — it is the four-year gap between its record and its reality, a gap that the World Cup will close in a single summer if border policy lets it.
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