: ''For the United States Air Force use of the airport (1942–1990), see Van Nuys Air National Guard Base'' Van Nuys Airport is a public

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

in the

Van Nuys Van Nuys () is a neighborhood in the central San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Home to Van Nuys Airport and the Valley Municipal Building, it is the most populous neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley. History In 1909, ...

neighborhood of the

City of Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. The airport is operated by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), a branch of the Los Angeles city government, which also operates

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport , commonly referred to as LAX (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles, California and its surrounding metropolitan area. LAX is located in the ...

(LAX). Van Nuys is one of the busiest

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

airports in the world, with the airport's two parallel

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concrete ...

s averaging over 230,000 takeoffs and landings annually. However, , no commercial air service operates to or from Van Nuys. Van Nuys is home to news, medical transport, and tour helicopter operators, the air operations unit of the Los Angeles City Fire Department, and a maintenance base for

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-lar ...

and

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...

helicopters. Originally opened as Metropolitan Airport on December 17, 1928, the airport became the Van Nuys Army Airfield during World War II, was renamed the San Fernando Valley Airport after the war, before taking its current name in 1957. The airport is also home to LAWA's FlyAway terminal, where passengers bound for LAX can park and board buses that run nonstop between Van Nuys and LAX. Van Nuys Airport is also known for implementing multiple noise abatement policies and strategies which includes awarding jet operators with th
Friendly Flyer Award for reduced noise.

History

Van Nuys Airport opened on December 17, 1928, the 25th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight, as Metropolitan Airport. The airfield was run by a small group of citizens who established a corporation. The airport was spread out on 80 acres, surrounded by trees and farmland. The airport was mostly used for

, but also became popular with Hollywood stars of the era, and notably was the filming location of the iconic airport scene in the 1942 film

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

.Also notable were the scenes of the reckless flight (and other scenes) of

Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American comedy duo act during the early Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957). Starting their career as a duo in t ...

in the 1939 film The Flying Deuces. In 1942, after the United States entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the government purchased Metropolitan Airport and converted it into the Van Nuys Army Airfield. The Army also purchased an additional 163 acres of land to expand the runways and airfield. During the war, the airfield was used by the 4th Air Force, which stationed the

428th Fighter Squadron The 428th Fighter Squadron is part of the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. Currently, it operates F-15SG Strike Eagle aircraft conducting formal training missions to qualify Republic of Singapore Air Force crew in the ...

with

Lockheed P-38 Lightning The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinctive tw ...

aircraft in 1943. In 1944, the 441st Army Air Forces Base Unit was added to train additional pilots for the P-38. Elsewhere on the airfield, the U.S. Navy and Lockheed Corporation created an aircraft modification facility known as the Navy Lockheed Plant, just one of several aerospace companies that would become established in the area. In 1949, after the war, the

purchased the airport from the

War Assets Administration The War Assets Administration (WAA) was created to dispose of United States government-owned surplus material and property from World War II. The WAA was established in the Office for Emergency Management, effective March 25, 1946, by Executive O ...

for $1, with the agreement that a

California Air National Guard The California Air National Guard (CA ANG) is one of three components of the California National Guard, a reserve of the United States Air Force, and part of the National Guard of the United States. As militia units, the units in the California ...

base continue to operate at the site. The name of the airport, which by then covered 400 acres, was changed to San Fernando Valley Airport. In the 1950s, the California Air National Guard based North American F-86 Sabre jets at the airport and built new permanent facilities. In 1957, the airport's name would change one last time to Van Nuys Airport. In 1959, the Sherman Way underpass was finished, allowing the main runway (16R/34L) to be extended to its current length of . By the end of the decade, Van Nuys was ranked as the 25th busiest airport in the nation in terms of operations, despite having no commercial air service. In 1975, the Los Angeles Department of Airports (now Los Angeles World Airports) built the FlyAway bus terminal just east of the Van Nuys Airport. The terminal served as a remote parking lot for sister airport, LAX. Passengers would park at Van Nuys and board a bus for a trip to LAX, helping to alleviate freeway and LAX parking congestion. The California Air National Guard moved out of Van Nuys in 1990, with the 146th Airlift Wing shifting to Naval Air Station Point Mugu (now Naval Base Ventura County) in Oxnard. In 1994, the now-vacated National Guard buildings became a critical operating site for the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the des ...

helped the victims of the devastating

Northridge earthquake The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The quake had a duration of approximatel ...

. In the early 2000s, the former Air National Guard base was converted into air operations and helicopter maintenance facilities for the Los Angeles Fire Department. Today, Van Nuys remains one of the world's busiest general aviation airports, with 232,000 aircraft operations in 2020. A 2015 study found that the airport generates of economic impact and has created 10,480 jobs

Facilities

Van Nuys Airport view from train 2016-05-02 (2)

Van Nuys Airport covers and has two

* 16R/34L: ,

asphalt Asphalt, also known as bitumen (, ), is a sticky, black, highly viscous liquid or semi-solid form of petroleum. It may be found in natural deposits or may be a refined product, and is classed as a pitch. Before the 20th century, the term ...

* 16L/34R: , asphalt

Incidents

* In the mid 1950's a single engine airplane, that was trying to land at Van Nuys Airport, crashed, due to severe fog, into the roof of the house, located at 7807 (approximate address number) Louise Avenue, Northridge California. The home was unoccupied, at the time. The pilot died in the crash. * On the night of March 26, 2000, a

KTTV KTTV (channel 11) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV ou ...

news helicopter, "Sky Fox 2", a secondary helicopter that was previously owned by

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the s ...

, crashed at Van Nuys airport after experiencing problems while covering the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

. * A Cessna 525 Citation CJ1 twin-engine jet departing for Long Beach Airport crashed north of the airport on January 12, 2007, killing two people on board. One was reported to be the owner of the company which operated the aircraft. * On November 25, 2008, a

Cessna 310 The Cessna 310 is an American four-to-six-seat, low-wing, twin-engine monoplane produced by Cessna between 1954 and 1980. It was the first twin-engine aircraft that Cessna put into production after World War II. Development The 310 first fl ...

carrying two people experienced

landing gear Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Mart ...

problems. After burning off fuel, it was able to land on the runway without incident, although its front gear collapsed upon landing. * On January 9, 2015, a Lancair aircraft crashed after takeoff just south of the airport at the intersection of Vanowen Street and Hayvenhurst Avenue. The pilot, an experienced flight instructor and

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

robotics engineer, was killed. *On September 11, 2020, a small plane crashed into a parking lot on Hayvenhurst Avenue after takeoff, killing both the pilot and passenger.

General aviation

FBOs: * Castle and Cooke Aviation * Clay Lacy Aviation *

Jet Aviation Jet Aviation is a Basel-based provider of business aviation services. Founded in Switzerland in 1967, it provides aircraft sales, maintenance, and charters using its fleet of more than 200 aircraft. Since 2008, Jet Aviation has been a subsidiary o ...

* Signature Flight Support Airport businesses: * MP Aero * HeliNet * Mather Aviation * Thorton Aircraft Company

Filming location

Van Nuys Airport has been the location of many film, television, and music video shoots.

Film

* Parts of the climactic scene of the film ''

'' (1942) were filmed at Van Nuys Airport, at the time known as Metropolitan Airport. * The airport was used for landing the 747 and was referred to as Frederick Field in the film '' Executive Decision'' (1996). *The dramatic ending of the ''

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American '' ...

'' '' Armored Car Robbery'' (1950) takes place at what was then Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport. Antagonist William Talman and his burlesque queen girlfriend

Adele Jergens Adele Jergens (November 26, 1917 – November 22, 2002) was an American actress. Early life and career Born in Brooklyn, New York, as Adele Louisa Jurgens (some sources say Jurgenson), she rose to prominence in the late 1930s when she was named ...

are attempting to escape by chartered airplane, and are cornered by Detective Charles McGraw. Talman runs, and is killed on the runway by a landing airplane. *In '' One Six Right'' (2005), a film documenting the history of Van Nuys Airport, was released. It was named after the most favored runway at the airport. *A major part of the science fiction motion picture ''

Silent Running ''Silent Running'' is a 1972 American environmental-themed apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic science fiction film. It is the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, and stars Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin, and Jesse ...

'' (1972) was filmed at the Van Nuys Airport in March 1971. The Domes from the spacecraft that contained the last surviving forests were filmed there. The forest environments were originally intended to be filmed in the Mitchell Park Domes in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, but the production budget forced the sequences to be shot in a newly completed aircraft hangar in Van Nuys.

Television

*Many television shows have filmed at the airport, including an episode of the TV show ''

Alias Alias may refer to: * Pseudonym * Pen name * Nickname Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Alias'' (2013 film), a 2013 Canadian documentary film * ''Alias'' (TV series), an American action thriller series 2001–2006 * ''Alias the J ...

'', and several episodes of Season 5 of '' 24''. *The 1980s action-espionage series ''

Airwolf ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving e ...

'' used the Van Nuys Airport hangars regularly as the site of "Santini Air", the charter air service company owned and operated by

Ernest Borgnine Ernest Borgnine (; born Ermes Effron Borgnino; January 24, 1917 – July 8, 2012) was an American actor whose career spanned over six decades. He was noted for his gruff but relaxed voice and gap-toothed Cheshire Cat grin. A popular perfor ...

's character (

Dominic Santini ''Airwolf'' is an American action military drama television series that centers on a high-technology military helicopter, code-named ''Airwolf'', and its crew. The show follows them as they undertake various exotic missions, many involving esp ...

) in the series. *In the last episode of Season 1 of the HBO series '' Entourage,'' the final scene takes place at Van Nuys Airport, where Vincent Chase and company take off for

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was also used in the fourth season when

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

offers the group a plane ride on a

Marquis Jet NetJets Inc. is an American company that sells fractional ownership shares in private business jets. Founded as Executive Jet Airways in 1964, it was later renamed Executive Jet Aviation. NetJets became the first private business jet charte ...

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. The ...

. In Season 5 episode 7, Chase and Ari Gold run into each other in a hangar as each are about to depart on separate flights to

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, respectively. The last episode of season 6, episode 12, is used as a location where Chase and his crew run into

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

on the way to Italy for a film shoot. In season 8 episode 8, Vince, Johnny and Turtle fly to Paris for Vince's wedding, while Eric and Sloan fly elsewhere and their planes take off at the same time for the finale to the show.

Music video

Britney Spears Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage producti ...

's music video for " Stronger" *

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

's music video for " The Memory Remains" *

Blink-182 Blink-182 (stylized as blink-182) is an American rock band formed in Poway, California in 1992. Their current lineup consists of bassist/vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist/vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker. Though their sound has ...

's music video for "All The Small Things" *

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

's music video for "God Gave Rock and Roll To You 2" *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's music video for "Stranger In Moscow" (1996)

References

External links

*
openNav: VNY / KVNY charts
* *Facebook
Van Nuys Airport (VNY)
*Twitter
@VanNuysAirport
{{authority control Airports in Los Angeles County, California Van Nuys, Los Angeles Buildings and structures in the San Fernando Valley Transportation in the San Fernando Valley Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command in North America Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces Technical Service Command Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in California