Van Nuys Airport closure – another ‘Geddon’ coming?

Carmageddon last summer, when all the lanes of the 405 Freeway were shut down. (Remember, everyone stayed off the roads, making for a peaceful easy driving weekend?) Now, like a bad Hollywood sequel starring Steven Seagal comes… “PLANEGEDDON!”

The main runway at Van Nuys Airport could be closed for up to nine weeks starting in early 2013. The reason? Needed repairs. Last repaved in 1992, the 8,000 foot long runway is pitted, gouged and fractured with cracks.

And this could be a lot worse than the freeway closing. Van Nuys is the busiest general aviation airport in the country and home to a fleet of chartered jets used by corporations and Hollywood’s rich and famous. Officials estimate closing the runway will cost the airport and surrounding communities in the San Fernando Valley $225 million in lost economic activity. But while repairs continue on the main air strip, another runway at Van Nuys will remain open for propeller driven planes and smaller charter aircraft. (What will we do with the KCRW Gulfstream V?)