(818) 290-8249 · Open 9 AM–9 PM, 7 Days a Week · ★★★★★ 4.9 · 500+ Reviews · Van Nuys Airport
Van Nuys Airport (KVNY) is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, with two parallel runways, a control tower and Burbank's Class C airspace overhead. Learning here means you master radio calls, parallel-runway traffic and big-city airspace from your very first lesson. This guide covers the runways, frequencies, hot spots, noise rules and local procedures every new student should know.
Runway 16R/34L is 8,001 feet long and 16L/34R is 4,013 feet. Pattern work is usually done on the shorter east runway.
VNY sits in Class D airspace underneath Burbank's Class C. You need two-way radio contact before you enter.
The FAA calls VNY an extremely busy VFR training airport, which makes it a great place to build real-world radio and traffic skills.
Wrong-runway takeoffs, hold-line crossings and parallel-runway confusion are the documented risks here.
VNY is an extreme noise-sensitive area, with overnight limits on touch-and-goes and specific departure turn rules.
Frequencies and procedures change. Check the current FAA Chart Supplement, ATIS and NOTAMs before every flight.
Van Nuys Airport opened on December 17, 1928, the 25th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight, under the name Metropolitan Airport. It took its current name in 1957. Today the City of Los Angeles owns the field and Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA), the same agency that runs LAX, operates it. Spread across roughly 725 acres in the heart of the San Fernando Valley, it is regularly described as one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, home to business jets, news and police helicopters, warbirds, charter operators and a long list of flight schools.
For a student pilot, the real value of VNY is practical: you learn at a tower-controlled airport with long runways, a full instrument approach environment and some of the most complex airspace in the country close by. Learning here builds comfort on the radio and calm in traffic, skills that carry straight into a private pilot license and beyond.
VNY has two closely spaced parallel runways. The west runway, 16R/34L, is the long one, used by jets. The east runway, 16L/34R, is shorter and narrower, and according to the FAA's local pilot information, pattern work is conducted on 16L/34R whenever possible. That is where you will likely spend many of your early lessons practicing takeoffs and landings.
The traffic patterns are set up so each runway's pattern stays on its own side of the airport. Runway 16R uses right traffic and 34L uses left traffic, which keeps the west runway's pattern to the west. Runway 16L uses left traffic and 34R uses right traffic, which keeps the east runway's pattern to the east. Both 16L and 16R have displaced thresholds, so the pavement behind the threshold bars is available for takeoff but not for landing in that direction.
The biggest pattern error the FAA highlights here is overshooting the turn from base to final. Your base-to-final turn must not cross the extended centerline of your assigned runway, because overshooting can put you nose to nose with traffic landing on the parallel. Your instructor will teach you to plan the turn early, use a steeper bank when appropriate within your limits, and go around without hesitation if the turn gets away from you. Note also that 16L/34R is closed and unlighted when the tower is closed, so late-night arrivals use the west runway only.
Under 14 CFR 91.129, you must establish two-way radio communication with the tower before entering Class D airspace and maintain it while you are inside. At VNY the tower splits its work by runway and direction, so it pays to know which frequency to use before you call. The frequencies below come from the FAA Chart Supplement as published at the time of writing; always confirm them against the current supplement and the ATIS before you fly.
Listen to the ATIS and note the information code before you call Ground. Read back every hold-short instruction with your call sign in the same transmission. After landing, if you are holding short of the parallel runway, stay on the tower frequency unless you are told to contact Ground. Our Redbird MCX simulator is a useful place to rehearse these calls before you are juggling them in a real cockpit.
The FAA's runway safety material for Van Nuys points to a short list of recurring mistakes. Most of them come down to the parallel runways and the many taxiways that cross them. Taxiways C, D, E, F and G all cross both runways, so a single wrong turn can put you on an active surface. Build these checks into every taxi:
Van Nuys sits in a crowded neighborhood. Burbank's Class C airspace lies over the top of the VNY Class D, and the Los Angeles Class B begins to the south. Whiteman Airport (KWHP), about 4 miles northeast, has its own pattern traffic that can conflict with arrivals to 16L and 16R. Aircraft on the Burbank Runway 8 ILS final pass overhead and are not talking to Van Nuys tower, so holding pattern altitude matters. To the north, the Newhall Pass is a high-density corridor with VFR transits, hang gliders north of the pass and IFR arrivals on the Runway 16R ILS.
Helicopters are a constant presence. The FAA warns pilots to watch for helicopter routes east and west of the runway centerlines at 500 feet above the ground. Tower will often route you using local VFR reporting points such as Cal State Northridge, the VA hospital, the Sepulveda Flood Basin and the Northridge mall. Learn these landmarks early; if you cannot find one, simply ask the tower for an alternate instruction.
For solo students, the rules around the big airports matter. Under 14 CFR Part 91 Appendix D, Section 4, solo student pilot activity is not permitted at Los Angeles International Airport at all. Solo flight in any Class B airspace requires specific ground and flight training plus a logbook endorsement within the previous 90 days under 14 CFR 61.95. Our Los Angeles airspace guide covers each layer in more detail.
Van Nuys is surrounded by homes, and the airport is designated an extreme noise-sensitive area. For student pilots, the rule that matters most is the limit on repetitive operations. The airport's published noise rules prohibit touch-and-goes between 9 PM and 7 AM, and the Chart Supplement describes a curfew on propeller-powered repetitive operations (touch-and-go, stop-and-go, or a takeoff within five minutes of landing) that starts at 10 PM from June 21 to September 15 and at 9 PM the rest of the year, running to 7 AM. Jets may not do pattern work at any time.
Departures also have turn restrictions. From Runways 16L and 16R, no turns are allowed before you reach the flood basin south of the field unless ATC directs otherwise. From Runways 34L and 34R, no turns before reaching 1,800 feet MSL unless ATC directs otherwise. Stay over your own departure runway as you climb so you do not drift into the parallel runway's departure path.
Many students find their first flights at a towered airport intimidating. Soon, though, the structure becomes a comfort: tower sequences traffic for you, the runways are long, and the frequent radio practice builds confidence fast. A typical early lesson starts with a briefing, a preflight inspection on the ramp, an ATIS check, a call to Ground, a run-up and a departure toward a practice area, followed by a return to the pattern for landings.
Our school is in the Main Terminal at 7900 Balboa Blvd, and we are open from 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week. We train in a fleet that runs from the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, Piper Warrior and Diamond DA20 to the glass-cockpit Cirrus SR22 Turbo, the complex Piper Arrow and the twin-engine Piper Seminole. You can see every aircraft on our fleet page. Whether your goal is a sport pilot certificate, an instrument rating or a seat at an airline through our Airline Pilot Program at $84,000 (regularly $89,000, with a $5,000 promotion), learning at VNY gives you a head start on the skills airlines and checkride examiners care about.
Before you solo, you will also need a student pilot certificate and an FAA medical certificate. Our guides to the FAA medical certificate and the FAA knowledge test walk you through both.
Come see the ramp, the runways and the tower for yourself. Call us and we will help you plan your first flight at KVNY.
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