LAX Braces for Summer Travelers

The 22-year-old building, home to 34 airlines, is the "worst terminal in the Western world," where "customs was a nightmare" and "lines a mile long," according to travelers who posted their experiences on an Internet bulletin board.

It's about to get much worse.

Low airfares, a weak U.S. dollar and an expanding array of flights to destinations around the globe are expected to contribute to record international traffic at LAX this summer.

Airports throughout Southern California are bracing for record passenger traffic from Memorial Day through Labor Day. And airline officials nationwide expect the busiest summer season since the previous peak in 2001.

Lines at customs, ticket counters and security checkpoints are already growing at LAX. The airport, the world's fifth-busiest, ranks low in how travelers rate its customs operations, but in a recent week, it had shorter lines than some other major airports.

"I'm just tired. I spent more than 10 hours on the flight and then more than an hour in line here," Jin Lee said after waiting in the Bradley terminal's crowded customs hall following her return from a trip to South Korea. "Why are they so long?"

As Lee and a friend stood in the lower level of the Bradley terminal, harried travelers speaking many languages and pushing carts loaded with luggage bustled around them.

At LAX, the city's airport agency expects 18.5 million travelers this summer, up 6% from the same period a year ago. About 5.1 million of them will be international passengers, a gain of about 10% over June, July and August of 2004.

The increase is welcome news at LAX, which suffered more than other major U.S. airports from the steep decline in travel that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Iraq war and the 2003 outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome in Asia.

"It's been four years since there's been demand like this for airline seats to and from Los Angeles," said Paul Haney, a spokesman for Los Angeles World Airports, the city's airport department. "Now airline station managers are telling us that their advanced bookings are up sharply for summer travel, and that means tickets will be scarce and planes will be full."

Many carriers have added service at LAX this summer, with more flights to Asia, Canada, Europe and Latin America.