Private jet from Van Nuys to Cabo San Lucas: times, prices, Mexico permits and the way home

What goes into the price

On a flight of two and a half hours the flying is the largest part of the bill, positioning is the second, and the international paperwork is the third.

Positioning. Van Nuys has a deep supply of charter aircraft, which keeps the first leg cheap. An aircraft that takes you to Los Cabos has to come back empty or stay with you, so a one-way price carries most of the cost of a round trip.

Mexican permits and handling. A US operator flying a charter to Mexico needs approval from Mexico’s civil aviation authority. Trade sources describe a blanket permit for the operator and a separate approval for each flight, with about 10 business days of lead time for a charter flight. Jake asks the operator what it holds before it quotes.

International tax. International flights pay a US arrival and departure tax of $23.40 per passenger each way in 2026 instead of the 7.5% domestic excise tax.

The rest is the usual: handling at Van Nuys, whose landing fee is $6.44 per 1,000 pounds of maximum landing weight since March 2026, catering and ground transport.

What makes this route cheaper or more expensive

Season. Los Cabos is busiest in the winter months, and holiday weeks are the most expensive. Summer is usually quieter, but it is hurricane season (see below).

Day and time. The return is limited by customs hours at the US end, so a return that fits inside them costs less than one that needs after-hours cover.

Aircraft size. Every category flies the route in about the same time. A larger jet adds comfort, not speed.

Empty legs on this route

Aircraft often fly to Los Cabos full and come back empty, and the reverse at the end of a season. That follows from how the trip is structured; it is broker experience, not a published statistic. Charter Jet One’s figure for the saving on an empty leg is up to 75%. On an international route the operator’s permits and the customs arrangements have to match the day.

These are illustrative. They aren’t flights for sale. They run on the operator’s timing and can change at short notice.

Flights actually on offer are posted on our empty legs page as operators release them, and one-way charters and empty legs explains where the discount comes from.

Departing from Van Nuys

Van Nuys is owned by the City of Los Angeles. Its main runway, 16R/34L, is 8,001 feet, and its second runway is 4,013 feet. It has six FBO or fuel providers, among them Signature (three locations), Jet Aviation and Clay Lacy.

Noise. The airport is an “extreme noise sensitive area”:

• Stage 2 jet departures are banned from 10 pm to 7 am by city ordinance, and Stage 3 jets are unaffected until 11 pm.
• Aircraft with a takeoff noise level at or above 77 dBA may not arrive or depart, and the Chart Supplement caps takeoffs at 74 dBA from 10 pm to 7 am.
• From 11 pm to 7 am, the Quieter Nights program asks jet operators to avoid flights, but it is voluntary.

Customs on departure. A commercial charter contacts CBP for outbound clearance, and the operator files the departure manifest. See flying private internationally.

Arriving in Los Cabos

The airport. Los Cabos International Airport (SJD, ICAO MMSD) has one runway of about 9,800 feet. The general aviation terminal is at the north end, about 15 minutes by car from San José del Cabo. The airport at Cabo San Lucas itself (MMSL) is a different, privately run field that most charter jets don’t use. Arrivals and departures over the surrounding water fall within an FAA advisory to US operators that runs to March 2027; see the FAA’s Mexico Pacific advisory.

The FBO. There is one, PrimeSky, operated by the airport group, with customs and immigration on site. Hours in third-party listings run from about 7 am to 8 or 9 pm, so confirm them for your day of travel.

Customs and immigration. All passengers, crew and baggage deplane and clear on arrival. A digital tourist form is issued at the immigration counter. Peak-season delays at the airport commandant’s office (the Comandancia), which handles customs, immigration and flight plans, can reach 40 minutes. See Dallas to Cabo for more on entry.

Documents. A valid passport for everyone. A US passport card is not valid for international air travel.

Coming home to Van Nuys

The US side decides your return, so it is planned before the outbound is confirmed.

• Van Nuys is a CBP user-fee airport. CBP’s June 2024 fact sheet lists office hours of 9 am to 8:30 pm Pacific on Monday, Thursday and Sunday, 3 pm to 8:30 pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, and 9 am to 2:30 pm on Friday and Saturday. Inspection is generally available during those hours, subject to the port’s permission-to-land procedure.
• Permission to land. CBP’s sheet says to contact the port before leaving the foreign airport, within 24 hours of the requested arrival date, with a tolerance of 30 minutes either side of the estimate.
• A designated airport may come first. Under 19 CFR 122.23 to 122.25, an aircraft arriving from Mexico must, unless CBP grants an exemption, first land at a designated airport near the border or coast. The listed California airports are Calexico and Brown Field in San Diego; Van Nuys is not on the list. An exemption can be requested from the port director, and we could not confirm whether a Part 135 charter normally uses one. The operator confirms the plan with CBP before the trip. The border rules map the designated airports.
• At the FBO. Passengers and crew are processed inside the federal inspection area at the FBO named in the notification, and Signature West charges a customs fee for all arrivals.
• Manifests. For a charter, the operator files the passenger manifest 30 minutes before the aircraft is secured and the crew manifest 60 minutes before departure.

Hurricane season

The eastern Pacific hurricane season runs from May 15 to November 30, and most storms arrive between late June and early October. In September 2014, Hurricane Odile made landfall just east of Cabo San Lucas at 110 knots, and the National Hurricane Center says flights were suspended for about a month. A summer or early autumn trip needs a plan: a flexible date, a refund-or-reroute term and a watch on the forecast.

Which aircraft fits best

A light jet such as a Phenom 300E suits four to six people and flies the trip nonstop with range to spare. A midsize jet fits families and golf bags comfortably. A super-midsize such as a Challenger 350 adds comfort. A turboprop such as a Pilatus PC-12 saves money and adds about 50 minutes. A single-engine Grand Caravan EX is at the edge of its range and would need a stop.

How Jake handles this route

Jake starts with the operator’s Mexican permits and the return plan, because they decide who can fly the trip and when. He confirms with the operator how CBP will clear the aircraft on the way home, which airport and which hours, and collects passport details early. He confirms the operator is ARGUS Gold or Platinum rated, arranges a car at Van Nuys and the transfer in Los Cabos, and plans a fallback in hurricane season.