Source: SVBJ
Monday, April 8, 2024
SJC is getting new flights from Spirit Airlines
Source: SVBJ
Monday, March 25, 2024
SJC celebrates 75 years with a giant chick in Terminal B
Tuesday, February 20, 2024
ZIPAIR adding more flights from San Jose to Japan
Tuesday, August 8, 2023
Robot shuttles coming to San Jose, SJC and beyond
Source: SiliconValley.com
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Spirit Airlines begins flying from SJC today
Wednesday, December 28, 2022
SJC airport getting a new name and logo
Tuesday, December 6, 2022
SJC passenger traffic is up plus other great news! ✈️
Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is finally showing real signs of recovering from the Covid pandemic. October had over a million passengers passing through the airport, which is 32% better than October the previous year. This is still down 28% for 2019, but is a very positive trend. If you look at the data year-to-date (actually year-to-October) then traffic is up 64% from 2021 and only 38% down from 2019--which was the best year ever for San Jose air travel.
Looking forward to 2023, there is a lot of great news that will keep the momentum going. ZIPAIR is launching their nonstop flights from SJC to Japan this month. It might sounds like a random discount airline, but it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan Airlines (JAL). The route will use a newer 787-8 plane with free WIFI and 290 seats, 18 of which are full-flat business. It will fly out from San Jose at 10am on Mondays, Thursday, and Sundays and arrive at Tokyo Narita at 2:30pm the next day.
Last but not least, Southwest has launched a six-day-per-week service to Palm Springs. Alaska was the only carrier doing this route before, so with Southwest joining prices have dropped significantly. Palm Springs is a great way to escape the cold in the winter and has one of the most interesting airports in the United States.
Below is a list of all of SJC's current international destinations. With service to 9 different destinations, we're still a bit off from our all-time high of 11 destinations. However, with people returning to travel in a post-pandemic world, I'm optimistic San Jose will score new routes in 2023.
SJC International Flights
- Asia
- Tokyo, Narita (ZIPAIR)
- Europe
- London (British Airways)
- North America
- Vancouver (Air Canada)
- Guadalajara (Alaska Airlines, Volaris)
- Cabo San Lucas (Alaska Airlines)
- Puerto Vallarta (Alaska Airlines)
- Morelia (Volaris)
- Zacatecas (Volaris)
- Leon (Volaris)
Wednesday, September 2, 2020
New flights coming to SJC
Our fortunes may be slowly changing, the first new international route since COVID has just been announced by Volaris. They are adding a new nonstop between Mexico City and SJC that will fly three times per week (Mon, Wed, and Fri). This is the first time we'll have a direct flight to Mexico City in about two years.
Below is our revised list of international flights:
Monday, May 4, 2020
SJC moves ahead with expansion despite downturn in travel
As traffic was down 97% at the airport compared to last year, I think most people assumed the expansion plans would be on hold. However, the San Jose city council unanimously approved the plans.
Eventually, things will get back to normal. When they do, it is better to build in a downturn then when resources are extremely expensive. It's clear that Silicon Valley isn't going away anytime soon and our abundance of work-from-home-friendly tech jobs means we will likely recover faster than other parts of the world. The airport is a critical resource for us, and I'm glad we're still going ahead with this important long-term investment.
Source: The Merc
Monday, February 24, 2020
Diridon-SJC People Mover concepts
The only option that I think is truly feasible at a low cost would be a loop (not hyperloop), which the Boring Company is currently building in Las Vegas to connect various parts of their sprawling convention center. It might be possible for a couple hundred million (including stations) and everything would be underground, minimizing conflicts with other modes of transportation and completely taking weather out of the equation. It would also be scaleable to other parts of San Jose with much additional effort.
Our current transit options are failing us, so I have to applaud the city for thinking outside the box to make these two transit hubs together as quickly and cost effectively as possible.
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
SJC Terminal C
The new terminal would also get the SJC's first onsite hotel and a 5,000 space parking structure. The cost could run as high as $1.1 billion, but would be self-funded by additional flights.
I think an interesting idea would be to move international flights to Terminal C and really make a world class facility. Those are lucrative flights that greatly benefit the business community and overall economy.
As a little bonus, SJC also ranked the 11th best large airport in the world for on-time flight performance. Way to overachieve!
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, January 8, 2020
Iconic Boeing 747s are coming to SJC
Monday, December 16, 2019
Modular hotel coming soon to North San Jose
A new Hilton Garden Inn in San Jose is being built in this fashion by stacking 88 modular units on top of a podium near the airport at 101 east Gish Road. The units even came fully furnished. When complete the five-story hotel will have 150 room spread across 95,000 SQFT. The grand opening is currently slated for Spring 2020.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
SJC gets their first daytime nonstop to Boston
JetBlue will also start flying to London from Boston in a couple years, so this will likely provide a nice alternative to British Airways from San Jose when those flights kick off in 2021. I've taken the British Airways SJC flight and it's fantastic, but can be expensive.
Speaking of cost, it looks like San Jose International is now the fourth most affordable airport in the country. This is based on average airfare and food costs. Our neighbor up north, SFO, is the 4th most expensive in the country. Something to keep in mind next time you fly.
Source: SVBJ
Tuesday, November 5, 2019
SJC's second lounge is now open
The solution was to build a second "The Club SJC" in front of Gate A8. Ironically this is the same space as San Jose's only previous airport lounge, the American Airlines Admirals Club, which was only around when American had a hub in San Jose. Unlike the former Admirals Club, the new lounge is open to anyone for a fee ($39 per person I believe) and provides MUCH better amenities.
The food and snacks at The Club SJC are very good by lounge standards and there is an open bar for visitors with cocktails (bourbon and ginger-ale is default drink there). The new lounge has plenty of comfortable seats, an area with desks and power outlets for work, and a quiet/napping zone. I also found the service to be excellent when I used the lounge a couple weeks ago. There is no better place to hang out in SJC while waiting for your flight.
My only request, would be for them to build another lounge on the other side of the airport in the middle of the B gates. It's an especially long walk between the six temporary gates Southwest is using to either of the lounges. Even then, it's worth it for a snack, drink, and some relaxation before your flight.
If you want to get access to these lounges for free, I highly recommend the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant card. Every time you fly, you get access for up to three people into either of the San Jose lounge as well as lounges in just about any major airport in the world (SFO and Oakland included). It has a high annual fee, but you get annual perks easily worth double the fee even if you just travel two or three times a year. If you're interested, here is the link.
Source: SVBJ
Monday, October 21, 2019
SJC getting a new flight to Puerto Vallarta
Alaska will use an Airbus A320 for the route with 12 first class, 24 premium, and 108 economy seats.
Below is our revised list of international flights:
- Asia
- Beijing
- Tokyo
- Europe
- London
- North America
- Toronto
- Vancouver
- Cabo San Lucas
- Guadalajara (served by two different airlines)
- Leon
- Morelia
- Puerto Vallarta
- Zacatecas
Source: SVBJ
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
SJC is getting a new international flight in 2020
Air Canada is adding SJC's 10th international route on May 4th, 2020. Nonstop service to Toronto will be provided in an Airbus A220-300 with 137 seats. 12 of those are business class and the rest are economy in a comfortable 3+2 seat layout (fewer middle seats!).
Each day the flight will leave Toronto at 8:55am and arrive in San Jose at 11:28am. The return flight leaves SJC at 12:15pm and arrives in Toronto at 8:10pm.
Below is our full list of international flights. Unfortunately the Shanghai and Frankfurt routes have been cancelled. Toronto is likely to be a successful route given it was the 12th most requested by business travelers.
- Asia
- Tokyo
- Beijing
- Europe
- London
- North America
- Vancouver
- Toronto
- Guadalajara (served by two different airlines)
- Cabo San Lucas
- Morelia
- Zacatecas
- Leon
As an added bonus, Southwest is doubling their nonstop Hawaii destinations by adding flights to Kauai and the Big Island this January. The Kauai flight will run Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays starting January 19th, 2020 while the Kona flight runs Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays starting January 21st 2020.
Sources: SVBJ, SVBJ (2)
Wednesday, July 10, 2019
VTA calling for innovative transit ideas to connect SJC
Specifically, this consortium is looking for grade-separated mass transit at a significantly lower cost than traditional projects in two segments. The first is integrating SJC and Diridon such that they are viewed as a single facility--which would be amazing! I remember being completely shocked when visiting Hong Kong and realizing there was a special Airport train line where you can check your suitcases at the train station, hop on the train, and walk straight to security. Something that well integrated might not be part of the plan, but there are many airports in the US with people movers between terminals. How cool would it be if Diridon felt like it was just a quick terminal transfer away from the airport?
The second route would link the airport to three urban villages along Steven's Creek (I'm sure Santana Row is one of them), Santa Clara, Cupertino, and DeAnza College. This is a high-traffic route and extending BART or Light Rail down this way would cost billions of dollars.
It sounds like this RFI (request for ideas) is a way to legally satisfy the common government requirement of getting multiple bidders for each project. There is literally only one company right now that might be able to pull off something like this at a low cost, and it is The Boring Company. They are already designing an underground loop for the new Las Vegas Convention Center Expansion at a cost of about $10 million a mile. For less than the cost of the two-stop Eastridge light rail extension, we could connect SJC, Downtown San Jose, Santana Row, Santa Clara, and Cupertino with a fast and direct point-to-point transit system.
This could be the beginning of a whole new era in transportation that blends public and personal transportation together. San Jose should be leading the charge, innovation is our middle name!
Source: SVBJ
Monday, June 10, 2019
SJC is getting five new gates this month
The new gates will let Southwest and Alaska airlines consolidate their operations to make it easier for connecting flights. It will also open up opportunities for expansion. For example, Delta is going to make San Jose a focus city and wants to more aggressively compete with Southwest and Alaska. Delta is planning to increase service at SJC by 23.1%, which means a lot more flights and better prices for San Joseans.
As exciting as this news is, it is only the beginning. Terminal B will eventually have a permanent 12-gate expansion (see diagram below) with new restaurants an shopping options. This would bring our total gate count to 40 and it could be built without disruptions to the temporary gates. This is still five to seven years away, but shows the airport still has a long way to go before hitting its potential.
Sources: SVBJ, Flight Global, thanks to Daniel Martinez for the tip regarding Delta!
Monday, March 18, 2019
Downtown San Jose building heights set to increase
There will be some negative impact to SJC. On the rare days with inclement weather where long-distance flights have to take off south over Downtown, they will need to either limit the number of passengers or cargo. This is required to safely fly over the Downtown core in the extremely rare event where one of the two engines becomes disabled.
The positive side to the changes is that most of Downtown will get an extra 15-30 feet of develop-able space, making high-rise construction more compelling to developers. In the Diridon area, you might see buildings up to 150 feet taller than what is allowed today. The change is estimated to open up over $4.4 billion worth of vertical real estate in the Diridon area alone.
Perhaps one day we'll have electric planes with vertical take off and landing and can completely eliminate the height requirements, but for now this is a positive step towards building a more dense and vibrant Downtown.
Source: SVBJ, SVBJ (2)