---
title: "LAX is which airport? Los Angeles"
description: "LAX is Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, United States. Why the code is LAX and not something you could guess, plus the codes it gets mixed up with."
url: https://atoneplace.net/airport/lax/
site: "At One Place"
---

# What airport is LAX?

**LAX is: Los Angeles International Airport**

Los Angeles, United States

## Why the code is LAX

LA plus a filler X, added when two-letter codes were extended to three in the 1930s.

The airport authority or a contemporaneous record states this directly.

## The airport

- **IATA code:** LAX
- **ICAO code:** KLAX
- **Airport:** Los Angeles International Airport
- **City:** Los Angeles, United States
- **Opened:** 1930
- **Code origin:** Documented

Airport codes started as the two-letter identifiers of the National Weather Service stations they were attached to. When the system ran out of combinations, a third letter was added, and airports whose two-letter code already worked simply appended an X. That is the whole explanation for LAX, PDX and PHX, and it is why the X means nothing at all.

## The other code, KLAX

Every airport has two codes. The three-letter IATA code, LAX, is the one on your boarding pass and your luggage tag, and it is assigned for commercial use. The four-letter ICAO code, KLAX, is the one pilots and controllers use, and it is assigned geographically: the first letter or two identify the region, so every airport in the same part of the world shares a prefix. That is why KLAX looks nothing like LAX.

## Common questions

### What airport is LAX?

Los Angeles International Airport, in Los Angeles, United States.

### Why is Los Angeles's airport called LAX?

LA plus a filler X, added when two-letter codes were extended to three in the 1930s.

### What is the difference between LAX and KLAX?

LAX is the IATA code, used commercially — tickets, timetables, luggage tags. KLAX is the ICAO code, used operationally by pilots and air traffic control, and assigned geographically by region.

## Related pages

- [United States](https://atoneplace.net/country/united-states/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [Airport codes in United States](https://atoneplace.net/airport/in/united-states/)
- [What airport is JFK?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/jfk/)
- [What airport is ORD?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/ord/)
- [What airport is ATL?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/atl/)
- [What airport is MCO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/mco/)
- [What airport is DFW?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/dfw/)
- [What airport is EWR?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/ewr/)
- [What airport is SFO?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/sfo/)
- [What airport is LGA?](https://atoneplace.net/airport/lga/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)