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Charter a Private Jet to Los Angeles

L.A.’s network of mature airports plays a key role in keeping the region’s transportation system from imploding entirely. The area has no fewer than six airports that offer commercial airline service: Burbank, Los Angeles International, Long Beach, Palmdale, Ontario and Orange County. Choices for the business jet flyer are numerous, too.

Here’s a look at those choices, and what they have to offer:

Van Nuys Executive Airport (KVNY)
With an average of 1,400 takeoffs and landings daily, this is the nation’s busiest nonairline civilian airport. It’s 25 miles north of Los Angeles International (LAX) and seven miles west of Burbank, and direct ground transportation to and from LAX is available via the Flyaway Bus. Van Nuys is really a small city on an airport. The $1.2 billion of annual economic activity here fuels 8,700 jobs, 100 businesses and five FBOs.

Burbank Airport (KBUR)
Burbank was the region’s largest commercial airport until LAX surpassed it in the late 1940s. Through the 1970s, Burbank was a thriving general aviation airport, but today it is home to only a few dozen private airplanes, mostly big-iron jets, with an estimated value of $700 million. Many A-list Hollywood celebrities still use the place because of its proximity to movie and television studios.

Santa Monica Airport (KSMO)
Santa Monica has been an airport since 1919 and is where the original DC-3s were built. It became a major production facility for Douglas Aircraft Company (which became McDonnell Douglas, which subsequently merged with Boeing) during WWII. But when the city fathers refused to extend the runway in the 1950s, Douglas took its jet programs to Long Beach.

In 1967 homeowners sued over jet noise, so the city imposed an 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. departure curfew. A rash of discriminatory ordinances followed, some overturned in Federal court, that banned everything from helicopters and weekend touch-and-gos to all jets. During the 1980s, the city tried to have the airport closed altogether. In a settlement with the federal government, the municipality agreed to keep the airport open until at least 2015, but a 95-decibel noise limit remains in place, assuring that only “quieter” jets have access to the airport.

Hawthorne Municipal Airport (KHHR)
Located just four miles east of LAX and once the home of Northrop Aviation, Hawthorne has begun rebranding itself as “The New Los Angeles Executive Airport” and seeks to grab corporate business from Long Beach, LAX and Santa Monica. Hawthorne is adjacent to the 105 and 405 expressways; by car, it is only five minutes from LAX and 15 from Long Beach Airport.

Long Beach Airport (KLGB)
The last remnants of the Douglas plant may soon be gone, but the airport is still here and is thriving as a commercial passenger, cargo and general aviation hub. It remains relatively easy to get in and out of and that is its main attraction. There will be some taxiway rehabilitation done over the next year but most of that work is scheduled for the night hours so as not to disrupt operations.

To determine which airport best suits your needs, please contact RYL’s private jet charter department at 877.391.6161.