Connecting at LAX: nine terminals, one connected since 2023

Last checked 30 September 2026

At LAX, a hub for four different airlines with no single one dominant, most travellers are starting or ending a trip rather than connecting — this is the world's busiest airport for exactly that. For the smaller share who are connecting, a 2023 project changed the picture: every terminal is now reachable behind security, though Terminal 5 is currently closed for a rebuild.

At a glance

• Every terminal, 1 through 8 plus the international terminal (TBIT): connected without leaving security since a project finished in 2023. One exception: American Eagle passengers reach a separate satellite terminal by a bus that also stays behind security.
• Terminal 5 is closed for a full rebuild until just before the 2028 Olympics. Its airlines have moved: JetBlue to Terminal 1, Spirit to Terminal 2, American to Terminal 4.
• Arriving from abroad, connecting onward: you'll clear passport control and customs at the international terminal, recheck your bags, then go through security again before your next flight. LAX doesn't have one of the small number of shortcuts around this.
• LAX's passport-control wait: a typical wait of about 16 minutes, about 45 minutes on a slow day.
• No official minute-by-minute walk times are published; this is a big airport, and the two ends of it (Terminal 1 to Terminal 8) are a long way apart even behind security.

Nine terminals, one connected airport

For a long time, LAX's terminals didn't all link up behind security. That changed with a project finished in 2023, and now every terminal — 1 through 8, plus the international terminal — is reachable without leaving security. The one exception is American Eagle's separate satellite terminal, reached by its own bus that also stays behind security.

Four airlines each treat LAX as a hub — Alaska, American, Delta and United — so unlike some of the other hubs in this set of guides, there's no single carrier whose gates dominate the layout. Terminal 5 is currently out of the picture: it closed at the end of October 2025 for a complete rebuild, not expected to finish until shortly before the 2028 Olympics. Its former airlines have moved: JetBlue to Terminal 1, Spirit to Terminal 2, American to Terminal 4, all as a temporary measure.

Nobody publishes a precise minute figure for every terminal pair here, and this is a genuinely large airport — estimates put a walk between neighbouring terminals at 5 to 10 minutes and the two far ends, Terminal 1 to Terminal 8 (about two miles), at roughly 35 to 45 minutes at a steady pace. Treat the distance as real, not just a number on a map.

Arriving internationally

International arrivals come in through the Tom Bradley International Terminal. From there, the standard routine applies: clear passport control and customs, collecting your checked bags first, then recheck them and go through security again before your next flight. LAX isn't one of the airports with a shortcut around this process.

Passport control here runs a bit longer than at some other hubs: a typical wait of about 16 minutes, and about 45 minutes on a slower day.

Tips

• Distance, not security, is the thing to plan around at LAX now. A same-terminal or neighbouring-terminal connection is a short walk; the far ends of the airport are roughly 35 to 45 minutes apart on foot even though nothing stands in your way.
• If your flight used to connect through Terminal 5, double-check your terminal — the airline has almost certainly moved, at least until the rebuild finishes.
• Landing internationally, build in time for bag claim, customs, the recheck and the second security line, on top of whatever the passport-control queue looks like that day.

Checked and reviewed 30 September 2026. Terminals and construction change, so confirm with the airport and your airline before you travel.