Watching LAX live

The layout

Los Angeles International sits on the coast at the western edge of the city, and its four runways run east to west in two pairs, one either side of the terminals. The north pair is 6L/24R and 6R/24L; the south pair is 7L/25R and 7R/25L. Between them lies the horseshoe of terminals: Terminals 1 to 8 around the loop, with the Tom Bradley International Terminal and its satellite concourse at the western end. The Theme Building, the spaceship-like landmark from 1961, stands in the middle of the loop, and the control tower rises beside it.

On the map, the aprons and taxiways are drawn from OpenStreetMap, so what you see matches the real pavement: the parallel taxiways that feed each runway end, the cargo ramps on the south side, and the remote stands to the west where aircraft wait between flights.

How the flow works

Most of the time LAX runs in west flow: aircraft land from the east, descending over the city, and depart to the west over the ocean. Arrivals normally use the outer runways, 24R on the north side and 25L on the south, while departures roll on the inner pair, 24L and 25R. When an aircraft touches down on an outer runway it still has to cross the inner one to reach the terminals, which is why you will see aircraft holding short of the departure runway before taxiing in.

Late at night the airport switches to over-ocean operations to keep noise away from the neighbourhoods: arrivals come in from the west over the water, and departures still climb out over the Pacific. Jetorama's runway lights follow whatever the traffic is actually doing, so the green threshold markers and approach strobes move to the ends in use.

Rarely, a strong Santa Ana wind from the east forces east flow, with landings on the 6s and 7s from over the ocean and departures toward the city. It happens only a handful of days a year and is worth catching.

What to watch for

LAX is the widebody capital of the west: 777s, 787s, A350s and the remaining A380s arrive from Asia, Australia and Europe through the day, with a heavy bank of transpacific arrivals from late morning into the afternoon and departures in the evening. In between, the domestic carriers keep the inner runways busy with 737s and A321s. Tap any aircraft to see who it is and where it came from.

The classic view is from the beach: the approach to the north runways passes low over Dockweiler State Beach, and In-N-Out on Sepulveda Boulevard sits directly under the 24R final. In the miniature you get the same angle from above, with the ocean to the west and the whole field lit through the evening.