Los Angeles to Las Vegas is a short hop: 368 km (229 miles) from Van Nuys to Harry Reid International, about 45 to 50 minutes in the air. A light jet is plenty; you are paying for convenience at both ends, not for range.
| Airport | IATA / ICAO | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Van Nuys | VNY / KVNY | departure · 368 km to LAS | One of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, in the San Fernando Valley; no scheduled airline traffic, suits Beverly Hills, Bel Air and the Valley. |
| Los Angeles International | LAX / KLAX | departure · 380 km to LAS | Alternative. |
| Harry Reid International | LAS / KLAS | arrival | Las Vegas's main airport, minutes from the Strip; private terminals on the field, very busy on big event weekends. |
| Henderson Executive | HSH / KHND | arrival · 363 km from VNY | General aviation airport south of the Las Vegas Strip with no airline service; often quieter than Harry Reid on big event weekends. |
Source: OurAirports, great-circle.
Van Nuys to Las Vegas has been North America's busiest branded-charter airport pair (WingX, January 2023), and in May 2024 Las Vegas - Los Angeles was the busiest US business-jet city pair of the month. That traffic is why aircraft are almost always positioned at one end or the other.
Burbank (BUR) is the alternative to Van Nuys for Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena: Hollywood Burbank has private terminals alongside its airline traffic, and it is 359 km (223 mi) to Harry Reid. In Las Vegas, besides Harry Reid and Henderson Executive, North Las Vegas (VGT) is a general aviation airport northwest of the Strip, 373 km from Van Nuys.
Keeping the cost down. On a 50-minute hop a very light jet or a turboprop does the job, and a one-way empty leg - an aircraft repositioning between the two cities anyway - is often the cheapest option of all if your time is flexible. See current empty legs. For the return, Las Vegas to Los Angeles is busiest on Sunday afternoons and the morning after a big event; book that leg together with the outbound.
Sources: WingX Global Market Tracker (Jan 2023, May 2024); distances great-circle from OurAirports coordinates.
| Class | Example (published range) | Verdict for 368 km | Estimated time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light jet | Phenom 300 (3,650 km) | Non-stop | 50 min |
| Midsize jet | Citation XLS+ (3,889 km) | Non-stop | 45 min |
| Ultra-long-range jet | Global 6000, Falcon 8X, Gulfstream G650 (11,112 km) | Non-stop | 45 min |
Rule: non-stop needs 15% range margin. Times are estimates.
6-8 passengers, 3,650 km of published range: 9.9 times this route.
See the aircraft ›9-12 passengers, 7,408 km of published range: 20.1 times this route.
See the aircraft ›13-19 passengers, 13,890 km of published range: 37.7 times this route.
See the aircraft ›From $9,500 one way, whole aircraft, on a very light jet. That is the lowest figure we found published by a charter broker for this route: a market reference, not our quote. Every quote we send is in US dollars, for the whole aircraft, and the price includes our service fee.
| When | What happens | Our advice |
|---|---|---|
| Big event weekends | Major fights, concerts, CES in January and the Las Vegas Grand Prix in November fill the private terminals and parking ramps. | Book as early as you can, and consider Henderson Executive as the arrival airport. |
| Other weekends | Thursday and Friday departures from Los Angeles and Sunday returns are the busiest times on the route. | Midweek trips are usually the easiest to arrange. |
Your dates and group size for Las Vegas.