Van Nuys Airport

Van Nuys sits in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, minutes from the west side, the studios, and much of greater Los Angeles. It is among the busiest general-aviation airports in the United States and a center of gravity for Southern California private flying — which, for a charter customer, means a deep pool of based and repositioning aircraft and a lot of the region's empty-leg activity starts or ends here.

Who flies here

VNY is overwhelmingly a business- and private-aviation field rather than a commercial one, so the experience is built around exactly that: you arrive at a private terminal, not a passenger concourse. Its central Valley location makes it the default departure field for a large share of LA-area charter trips.

On the field

As of mid-2026 the FBOs (the private terminals your flight actually departs from) at Van Nuys include Signature Aviation, Clay Lacy Aviation, Castle & Cooke Aviation, and Jet Aviation. Your operator tells you which one — arrive there, not at a main terminal, and you're typically airborne minutes after you park.

A bit of history

The field opened on December 17, 1928 — the 25th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first flight — as the privately owned Metropolitan Airport, carved out of Valley walnut and peach groves. The military ran it as Van Nuys Army Airfield during World War II; it took its current name in 1949 and grew into the busiest general-aviation field in the country, a title it has traded but never strayed far from.

FBO and history details were last verified mid-2026 against the airport's and operators' own published information; tenants and amenities change, so confirm the departure terminal with your operator.