Overseas flights at Los Angeles International Airport added 363,700 jobs and $82.1 billion to the Southern California economy last year, but the aging facility needs serious upgrades to remain competitive, a study released Wednesday says, the Los Angeles Daily News reports.
The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. report said nearly $73 billon came from cargo carried aboard passenger jets headed to Europe and Asia, $6 billion came from airport operations, and $3 billion came from foreign tourists spending money in the region.
“These are colossal numbers,” said Greg Freeman, the study’s author and vice president of the nonprofit economic group.
“International flights from LAX are how we reach the world, whether it’s by fashion or biomedical products or other items,” Freeman said. “LAX really is the loading dock for businesses that are exporting to the rest of the world.”
The average overseas flight traveling round-trip from LAX every day added $623 million annually and sustained 3,120 direct and indirect jobs in Southern California, according to the study.
“That’s an average of almost $2 million a day per round-trip flight,” Freeman said.
