Los Angeles International Airport  is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California. It is generally referred to by Californians simply as "LAX", with the letters pronounced individually.

LAX handles more "origin and destination" (i.e. not connecting) passengers than any other airport in the world. It is the world's fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic  and sixth-busiest by cargo traffic, serving some 60 million passengers and more than two million tons of freight in 2004. It is the third-busiest airport by passenger traffic in the United States. In terms of international passengers, LAX is the second-busiest in the U.S. (behind only JFK International Airport in New York City) , but only 20th worldwide. Before 9/11 it was the third busiest airport in the world. LAX serves destinations in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Its most prominent airlines are United (19.57% of passenger traffic, combined with United Express traffic), American (15%) and Southwest (12.7%). It is also a focus city for Alaska Airlines and an international gateway for Delta Air Lines.

The airport occupies some 3,425 acres (14 km²) of the city on the Pacific coast, about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of downtown Los Angeles. LAX is one of the most famous locations for commercial aircraft spotting, most notably at the so called "Imperial Hill" area (also known as Clutter's Park) in El Segundo where nearly the entire South Complex of the airport can be viewed. Another famous spotting location sits right under the final approach for runways 24 L&R on a small grass lawn next to the In-N-Out Burger restaurant, and is noted as one of the few remaining locations in Southern California where spotters may watch such a wide variety of low-flying commercial airliners from directly underneath.