LAX: Gateway to Asia

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LONDON, England (CNN) -- Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) began life as a dusty landing strip in the corner of a Southern Californian ranch but has grown to become the world's fifth busiest airport.

It first became a municipal airport in 1927 at the request of oil prospectors and local residents and greeted its first jet planes in 1959 on the LA -- New York route.

Now more than 60 million people pass through it every year, most of them through the Tom Bradley international terminal. Built in time for the 1984 Olympic Games, it has been the spur for the huge growth of routes to Asia ever since.

The routes across the Pacific Ocean are the airport's fastest growing sector. Currently 264 flights operate to Asia every week, carrying a capacity of 10,000 passengers -- that's 45 percent more than LAX's closet rival, San Francisco.

"We have the most flights of any U.S. city to Asia and we intend to keep it that way. We're the only airport in the U.S. who has all 6 Chinese carriers operating out of here," Michael DiGirolamo, deputy executive director of Los Angeles World Airports told CNN's Richard Quest.

Trans-Pacific flights are a money-spinner for the airlines, too. Load factors on the Asia routes average 80 percent -- not surprising when you consider California's demographics.

It has the largest Asian population in the U.S., including the largest Chinese and Vietnamese populations and the second largest Japanese population. So it's not just a transit point -- it's all about origin and destination.

United is another carrier that has backed Asian growth and recently fought off fierce competition from other U.S. airlines to secure a new route from Washington to Beijing.

A quarter of United's capacity is deployed in the Asian region. Currently it flies more than 400 flights a week to 13 Asia / Pacific destinations, which is more than five million passengers each year.

Airports can never stand still. The planes are getting larger and the passengers are expecting more, so LAX is investing in order to hold onto its top spot. A new runway and taxiway are being built to boost safety and cater for the Airbus A380, and the Tom Bradley international terminal is undergoing a $500 million facelift.

LAX is flying high for now, but the competition is always on its tail, which is no bad thing for business travelers.

For more on LAX watch this month's CNN Business Traveller.

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January 18: 14: 30 GMT

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