For Immediate Release
July 26, 2018
Contact:
Becca Doten
(424) 646-5260
LAWA CEO FLINT AND BOARD PRESIDENT BURTON HEAD TO ASIA TO JOIN DELEGATION LED BY MAYOR GARCETTI TO PROMOTE INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND TOURISM
(Los Angeles, CA) Today, Board of Airport Commissioners (BOAC) President Sean Burton and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) CEO Deborah Flint are traveling to Asia to join Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti for a portion of his 10-day trade mission. President Burton and CEO Flint will be working with Mayor Garcetti and representatives from the Port of Los Angeles, the Department of Convention and Tourism Development and the Los Angeles Tourism and Convention Board to further promote travel and tourism between our partners and pave the way for possible new routes and nonstop destinations to and from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and key Asian cities. For their portion of the trade mission, President Burton and CEO Flint will both be traveling to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hong Kong.
“LAX serves as a gateway to Asia, a key region in ensuring that tourism, trade and international business in Los Angeles continue to flourish and grow,” said Sean Burton, President, BOAC. “It is in our best interest to ensure continued economic growth and vitality with our travel and trade partners throughout Asia.”
Deborah Flint, CEO, LAWA, said, “Our mission is to serve the world, connecting people, places and cultures. This trade mission helps us accomplish this through strategically building new business relationships, strengthening ties with our existing partners, and finding new economic growth opportunities.”
Last year, international travel at LAX grew 8.7%, and the previous year it grew 10.2% -- led by strong growth in the Asian market. International travel now accounts for nearly 30% of all LAX passengers, with nonstop service to 80 cities with 1,218 weekly nonstop departures. This includes 20 cities in Asia, nine of which have been added in the past three years. On average, a daily transoceanic flight to LAX results in direct and indirect economic output of $707 million, creating 3,208 jobs and $214M in annual wages. This trade mission will allow airport officials and partners to discuss opportunities for continued growth and continue to strengthen the partnerships already in place.
LAWA is paying $164,000 of the $319,000 cost of the trip, with the Port of Los Angeles covering $155,000. This trade mission is an investment in economic growth through new air service, expansion of cargo opportunities, and increasing travel and tourism from Asia through LAX, the international gateway to the Southern California region. China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam are L.A.’s four leading trading partners, and tourism is among the largest contributors to the Los Angeles economy, supporting an average of more than 517,000 jobs in the leisure and hospitality sector in 2017.
About Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
LAX, the fifth busiest airport in the world and second in the United States, was named in Skytrax’ 2018 top 10 U.S. airports. LAX served more than 84.56 million passengers in 2017 and offers 737 daily nonstop flights to 100 cities in the U.S. and 1,386 weekly nonstop flights to 88 cities in 44 countries on 73 commercial air carriers. LAX ranks 14th in the world and fifth in the U.S. in air cargo tonnage processed, with more than 2.2 million tons of air cargo valued at over $101.4 billion. LAX handled 700,362 operations (landings and takeoffs) in 2017.
An economic study based on 2014 operations reported LAX generated 620,600 jobs in Southern California with labor income of $37.3 billion and economic output (business revenues) of more than $126.6 billion. This activity added $6.2 billion to local and state revenues and $8.7 billion in federal tax revenues. The study also reported that LAX’s ongoing capital-improvement program creates an additional 121,640 annual jobs with labor income of $7.6 billion and economic output of $20.3 billion, $966 million in state and local taxes, and $1.6 billion in federal tax revenues.
LAX is also the second most popular airport in the world to appear on Instagram according to wego.com. LAX is part of a system of two Southern California airports – along with Van Nuys general aviation – that are owned and operated by Los Angeles World Airports, a proprietary department of the City of Los Angeles that receives no funding from the City’s general fund.
For more information about LAX, please visit
www.flyLAX.com or follow on Twitter
@flyLAXAirport, on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/LAInternationalAirport, and on YouTube at
www.YouTube.com/laxairport1.
As a covered entity under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Los Angeles does not discriminate on the basis of disability and, upon request, will provide reasonable accommodation to ensure equal access to its programs, services, and activities. Alternative formats in large print, braille, audio, and other forms (if possible) will be provided upon request.
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