Beverly Hills residents learn to fly at Van Nuys Airport, 17.3 miles and about 28 minutes north over the Sepulveda Pass. You Fly LA operates from 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406. There is no airfield in Beverly Hills and the nearest Westside alternative has no future as a training airport, so the 405 over the pass is the drive.
The premium version first: the Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight is $499 for 60 minutes, $649 for 90 and $799 for 120 for one flyer ($599 / $849 / $1,049 with a passenger), and training in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo adds $400 an hour to any package — including, below, when the expensive answer is the wrong one.
Over The Sepulveda Pass: The Drive, Honestly
One obvious route, two useful escapes from it. The obvious one is Santa Monica Blvd or Wilshire Blvd to the 405 north, up through the Sepulveda Pass with the Getty on the ridge to your left, over the crest, off at Roscoe Blvd and a mile west to Balboa. Seventeen point three miles, about 28 minutes when the pass behaves.
The pass is the whole variable. Northbound in the late morning is usually clean; northbound between four and seven is the reason people give up on things. The escapes are canyon routes: Coldwater Canyon Dr climbs to Mulholland and comes down the north side as Coldwater Canyon Ave at Ventura Blvd in Studio City, from where you run north to Victory Blvd and west to Balboa. Benedict Canyon Dr does the same one canyon west. Neither is quick — two lanes, twisting — but they are predictable, and predictable beats fast when an instructor is holding a slot for you.
Fly mid-morning and skip the argument: we are open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, seven days a week, and 10 am on a weekday is both the shortest drive and the smoothest air of the day.
| Starting Point | Route | Typical Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Wilshire Blvd & Santa Monica Blvd (90210) | 405 north over the Sepulveda Pass, exit Roscoe Blvd, west to Balboa | 26–32 min |
| Beverly Hills High School / Century City edge (90212) | Santa Monica Blvd west to the 405 north, exit Roscoe Blvd | 25–30 min |
| Benedict Canyon, above Sunset (90210) | Benedict Canyon to Mulholland, down Coldwater to Ventura, north to Victory | 35–45 min |
| Any Beverly Hills address, 5:30 pm weekday | Coldwater Canyon over Mulholland — slow but predictable | 40–55 min |
One weather note works in your favor. In May and June the marine layer often sits on the Westside into the late morning while the Valley side of the ridge is already clear. On those days the pass is the boundary between a canceled flight and a flyable one, and you are driving to the right side of it — see our weather and cancellation policy.
The Premium Tier, And When It Is Actually The Right Answer
Beverly Hills has roughly 31,624 residents and a median household income near $133,000, and the booking mix reflects it. Here is the top of our range, and what it is actually worth.
Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight, $499 / $649 / $799 ($599 / $849 / $1,049 with a passenger). The SR22 is a different class of airplane from a trainer: side-yoke control, a wide glass panel, leather seats, and a whole-airframe parachute that brings the entire aircraft down under canopy. You have your hands on the controls for most of the hour, and a passenger can ride along with a clear view for $100 to $250 more. Weight limits are 200 lb per person and 400 lb combined; full detail on the Cirrus SR22 page.
Private Pilot In The Cirrus SR22 Turbo. Want to train in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo? Add it to any package at +$400 per hour, for as many hours as you choose, and you earn exactly the same FAA certificate as our Private Pilot — Standard program at $10,400. The honest test: if you intend to buy or routinely fly an SR22T, learning in type is rational. If you do not, the standard program plus a Cirrus transition is the better use of the money. We will tell you which you are at a free in-person consultation, before you have spent anything. Cirrus time is $579 an hour inside a package, instructors at $110.
Gift certificates and private group flights. A gift card is the cleanest present in this category: the price on the tin is the price — no tax, no booking fee — and the recipient books when they like. See discovery flight gifts in Los Angeles, or private group flights for a family, a company or a small party.
What 90210 Looks Like From Two Thousand Feet
The route home is the sightseeing. A southbound departure crosses the Santa Monica Mountains in a few minutes and the city you live in reorganizes itself.
The Sepulveda Pass is directly beneath you, and from above it is plainly a notch cut through a ridge rather than the ordinary piece of freeway it feels like from the driver's seat. The Getty sits on its own spur on the western side, pale stone and courtyards, and is one of the easiest landmarks in Los Angeles to spot from the air. South of the ridge Beverly Hills lays itself out in two halves: the canyons — Coldwater, Benedict — as green seams of switchbacks climbing into the hills, and the flats below, where the streets run on their own diagonal against the rest of the city's grid and the tree cover hides most of the roofs.
Two things stand out. Century City, immediately south, is a tight cluster of towers with nothing tall for a mile around it — the most legible skyline in the region. And on the Beverly Hills High School campus there is an oil derrick: dressed up, easy to walk past on Olympic Blvd, and unmistakable from a thousand feet once someone points out that the decorated tower on a school campus is oil infrastructure. East, the Hollywood Hills along the skyline; west, on a clear winter afternoon, the coast.
Why Van Nuys And Not A Westside Field
The instinct is to look for something closer, and the Westside answer has been shrinking for years. Santa Monica's airport is not a place to begin a certificate that takes months to finish and years to build on — see our Santa Monica Airport closure page and flight school near Santa Monica.
What Van Nuys gives you in exchange for the pass is substance. It is a Class D tower-controlled field with parallel runways — 16R/34L is 8,001 feet — beneath the Burbank Class C, just north of the Los Angeles Class B, so you learn radio discipline and airspace structure from your first hour. It has the fleet depth for two lessons in a week: Piper Warrior, Diamond DA20, a Piper Arrow, the Cirrus SR22T, a Seminole for multi-engine work, and a Redbird full-motion simulator at $189 for 60 minutes. And a program costs what the page says it costs. Our flight training at Van Nuys Airport page covers the field itself.
Plan around the trade-off: at 28 minutes each way, do not book 45-minute lessons. Take longer blocks, fly two or three times a week, and treat the drive as the cost of a serious airport rather than a convenient one. If you are still surveying the field, our page on flying classes in Los Angeles sets out what a first block of lessons involves.
What It Costs
| Item | Detail | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Luxury Cirrus SR22 Discovery Flight | 60 / 90 / 120 min | $499 / $649 / $799 ($599 / $849 / $1,049 with a passenger) |
| Discovery Flight For Two — Malibu Coast | 60 / 90 / 120 min | $299 / $399 / $499 |
| Discovery Flight | 60 / 90 / 120 min, one person | $229 / $299 / $399 |
| Full-Motion Simulator | 60 min | $189 |
| Free In-Person Consultation | at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108 | $0 |
| Private Pilot — Standard | 40 hours | $10,400 |
| Instrument Rating | add-on rating | $11,700 |
| Cirrus, per hour | SR22T | $579 package |
| Instructor, per hour | flight or ground | $110 |
Those are totals. Our booking products carry no tax and no booking fee — $229 is the total, and $499 for the Cirrus is $499. For the arithmetic behind a full certificate, see how much flight school costs in Los Angeles. If it is the first hour rather than the certificate you are weighing, see a discovery flight from Beverly Hills.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Far Is Van Nuys Airport From Beverly Hills?
About 17.3 miles and roughly 28 minutes: the 405 north over the Sepulveda Pass, exit Roscoe Blvd, then a mile west to Balboa Blvd. The pass is the only unpredictable part of the trip.
What Is The Best Time Of Day To Drive Over The Pass?
Mid-morning. Northbound on the 405 at around 10 am is the reverse-commute direction and the air over Van Nuys is at its smoothest before about 10, so the drive and the flying are both better. Between four and seven in the evening, take Coldwater Canyon over Mulholland instead — slower, but predictable.
What Is The Luxury Cirrus Discovery Flight?
A discovery flight in the Cirrus SR22 — $499 for 60 minutes, $649 for 90 and $799 for 120 for one flyer, or $599, $849 and $1,049 with a passenger — with side-yoke control, a glass panel, leather seats and a whole-airframe parachute system. Weight limits are 200 lb per person and 400 lb combined.
Is Training In The Cirrus Worth It Over The $10,400 Standard Program?
Only if you intend to buy or routinely fly an SR22T. Both produce the same FAA private pilot certificate. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo can be added to any package at +$400 per hour, for as many hours as you choose. If a Cirrus is in your future, learning in type is rational; if it is not, take the standard program and add a Cirrus transition later.
Can I Train At Santa Monica Airport Instead?
It is not a field to build a multi-year flying life around, which is why Westside students come to Van Nuys. Van Nuys is a Class D tower-controlled airport with parallel runways, a full training fleet and a full-motion simulator.
What Will I See On A Flight From Van Nuys Over Beverly Hills?
The Sepulveda Pass and the Getty on its ridge, Coldwater and Benedict Canyons climbing into the hills, the flats on their own diagonal grid, the Century City towers just south, the oil derrick on the Beverly Hills High School campus, and the Hollywood Hills along the eastern skyline.
Do You Sell Gift Certificates, And Can You Arrange A Private Group Flight?
Yes to both. Gift cards are available in any amount with no tax and no booking fee, and private group flights for families, companies or celebrations run from our ramp at Van Nuys.
Related Pages
- Cirrus SR22 — the aircraft behind the luxury flights.
- Flight Training At Van Nuys Airport — the field, its Class D airspace and the fleet.
- Flight School Near Santa Monica — the Westside picture in full.
- Flight School Near Brentwood And Pacific Palisades — the same pass from the other end.
- Groups And Events — private flights and company outings.
- What Is A Discovery Flight? — what happens in the first hour.
- Service areas around Van Nuys — drive times from every neighborhood we serve.
Book Your Flight From Beverly Hills
Twenty-eight minutes over the pass is the whole distance between a Tuesday morning and an hour flying an SR22 above your own canyon. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Main Terminal Unit 108, Van Nuys, CA 91406, open 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM daily.
Book A Discovery Flight — $229 Book A Free Consultation Call (818) 330-1318