Sydney-based global shopping centre operator Westfield has released more details of its plans for the new Tom Bradley International Terminal in Los Angeles.
More than 60 dining and luxury retail shops – including 22 local LA brands – will be taking space at the new terminal.
"We’re investing in LAX because it isn’t just a travel hub, it’s the gateway to the Pacific Rim and a central driver of our regional economy," said mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio R. Villaraigosa.
Travellers are being promised a new experience at LAX, an airport which has attracted a fair amount of negative publicity in the past, linked mainly to slow processing of passengers.
The first phase of the new terminal will open in the next few months.
The second phase – which includes a federal security screening area, and an upgraded customs arrivals area – is expected to be completed by 2014.
Gina Marie Lindsey, executive director of Los Angeles World Airports, the LA city department that owns and operates LAX, said the transformation of LAX would provide passengers "with an experience they expect from a world-class city like Los Angeles".
Los Angeles welcomed a record 41.4 million visitors in 2012, a 2.5% increase over the previous record-high 40.4 million visitors in 2011.
Total domestic visitation accounted for 35.3 million visitors, a 2.7 % increase over 2011; total international visitation set a record with six million visitors, a 1.2% increase over 2011, with China becoming the destination’s top overseas market for the first-time.
by Ian Jarrett
