Travel: Flights to Los Angeles from MADEIRA

The Los Angeles area is served by six major commercial airports and more than a dozen private airports.

Los Angeles International (IATA: LAX) is the major gateway. The airport is huge, with nine terminals, and the only way to get from terminal to terminal (other than walking) is to use the free "A" shuttle buses that run in a loop between the terminals.

There are also two executive terminals for commercial, private and corporate aircraft, Mercury and Landmark. Both are served by air taxi and air charter firms such as Great Circle Aviation to LAX and going to other destinations such as San Diego and San Luis Obispo. Air charter firms have much shorter check-in times (closer to 10 minutes) with the departure time customized for each flight and set by the passengers for that trip, and no long security lines, but they often charge a premium for the time savings.

In L.A., an automobile is nearly essential, and connections to and from the airport are poor. There is no direct train service, although there are free shuttle buses to Aviation Station on the Metro Green Line, and hourly LAX FlyAway shuttles to Union Station. Taxis to downtown L.A. cost $45 and take 30 minutes in good traffic, but can be far slower in rush hour. On your return to the airport, be sure to arrive two hours before your flight as queues for security are often notoriously long and time-consuming.

The others are Long Beach Airport (IATA: LGB), Bob Hope (Burbank) Airport (IATA: BUR),Orange County/John Wayne Airport (IATA: SNA) and far flung LA/Ontario Airport (IATA: ONT) east of L.A and LA/Palmdale Airport (IATA: PMD) to the north. Even though LAX is often cheapest, avoiding LAX will save a lot of hassle because the other airports are small and not as busy (especially Long Beach), but you will typically be farther away from your destination which will entail a lot of driving.

Then again, going anywhere in L.A. is going to require a lot of driving. If you're going to Disneyland or any of the Orange County beaches (Laguna, Huntington, Newport), consider the Orange County/John Wayne Airport (IATA: SNA). For any of the airports, it is probably best to use the numerous buses and shuttles to get to and from the airport, if you are staying in the area. Locals do so to avoid dealing with the hassles and cost of parking.

Private pilots will prefer smaller general aviation airports such as Santa Monica (ICAO: KSMO), Van Nuys (ICAO: KVNY), Hawthorne or one of the dozens of other small airports in the area. LAX does not cater to small general aviation; Burbank (ICAO: KBUR) does but is high traffic; Long Beach (ICAO: KLGB) does but has a very complicated runway system and high traffic. Much of Los Angeles is Class Bravo or other controlled airspace, but due to the number of airports and the generally good weather Los Angeles makes a fantastic flying destination. Private pilots should also be prepared for flight delays when flying to LAX (including IFR ground holds} or delays in arrival or departure sequencing with busy jet traffic, and should consider alternatives such as Hawthorne (10 mi from LAX) as an option to leave an airplane and catch an airline flight.