Saturday Stats: SJC Has Lowest Airport Delays in the Bay Area

According to Nerdwallet, you should definitely fly out of San Jose instead of SFO or Oakland this holiday season if you are worried about being on time. San Jose has the lowest percentage of delayed flights in the region, especially on Southwest or Alaskan. In fact, SFO is the country's 2nd worst airport during the holidays when it comes to delays.

If you factor in the amount of time you will also save getting through security and to the gate, the choice becomes even more clear assuming there is not a huge price gap.

Source: Nerdwallet

Virgin American Leaving SJC

Some bad news today. Virgin America is leaving SJC.  I was really excited when they announced that they were coming to our airport, but was always worried they would be destined for failure from the start. Instead of adding a new route that would be a huge value add to Silicon Valley residents, they chose instead to go with four daily flights to LAX. Guess what, San Jose already had two dozen flights to LA each day.

If they went with a new route instead of a highly competitive one, they would have been much better off. ANA is doing really will with over 80% occupancy on their route to Japan. Hopefully future new carriers will be more like ANA and less like Virgin.

Alaskan Airlines Adds Salt Lake Route at SJC

Starting on June 9th, 2014, San Jose International will be getting a new nonstop service to Salt Lake City by Alaskan Airlines. Currently, only Delta offers a nonstop to Salt Lake from SJC. The new offering will give travelers more options and competition does a pretty good job at keeping prices low. Now if only we could get a new international flight or two.

Source: SVBJ

SJC Expanding International Terminal

Kim Aguirre--who is taking over as Director of Aviation at SJC--told the Business Journal that they are hoping to have a new international carrier withing the next 12 months. We all already knew that San Jose International has aggressively been seeking more international flights. However, Kim also dropped the news that they are planning to expand the international terminal from two gates to four by January 2015.

In order to put this in the cards, airport staff must be pretty confident about their international prospects. The ANA flight is doing quite well, so there is a good chance the next international carrier would be another Asian airline. I hate to say it, but given what happened with Asiana at SFO, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move some routes over to SJC.

As for domestic routes, Virgin is having a tougher time. There are 854 flights each month to LA from SJC, so the competition is stiff. Despite this Virgin says they are satisfied with where they are and are committed to the airport. SJC is also talking to carriers about expanding domestic services, especially to Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Boston.

Source: SVBJ

Saturday Stats: SJC Traffic Up 5.4% Year-Over-Year

Thing are looking up for the airport. Passenger traffic rose for the seventh consecutive month in a row. In July 813,628 passengers went through SJC, which is a substantial 5.4% increase over the same month in 2012. Overall, SJC traffic is up 4.9% year-to-date, which means growth is accelerating over time. Sure there were some extraneous factors in there like the Asiana crash and the economy, but this is a good sign for the airport. Keep in mind that the city owns the airport, and the profits (or losses) eventually flow back to San Jose.

Source: SVBJ

SJC Passenger Traffic is Up 5.4%

June 2013 saw an impressive 5.4% increase in passenger volume at San Jose International over June of last year. Traffic is undoubtedly being helped by the new ANA nonstop to Tokyo and new flights to LA from both Virgin and Delta. The economy also likely isn't hurting either. In total, 8.3 million passenger flew through SJC last year and unless something radical happens the 2013 tally is going to exceed that.

This is not only good for the airport, but it is good for the city of San Jose as well since it owns and operates the airport. Now if we could just get a few more of those international flights!

Source: SVBJ

Tokyo Flight Is Back On!

ANA is resuming direct flights from SJC to Japan starting on June 1st on shiny new (and hopefully battery-problem free) Boeing 787 aircraft. They have also upped the ante with five weekly round trips as opposed to four. Sometime in September the service will expand again to daily flights (seven each week).

Hopefully they will have some good promotions to welcome the route back to San Jose! Any guesses as to which international route SJC will land next?

Source: SVBJ, What a Trip

Virgin America Coming to San Jose!

You have probably heard it by now, but Virgin will by flying out of SJC starting May 1st. This is a huge win for San Jose, especially after the unfortunate grounding of ANA's Tokyo flight thanks to a poor battery design in the Boeing 787.

Virgin is one of, if not the hottest airline in the US right now. Prices are similar to Southwest, yet the experience blows away just about every other national airline. I also have to toss in that Virgin America branding and design feels very "Silicon Valleyish."

They are only starting off with four daily flights to LAX, but if those do well they will expand their presence in San Jose and offer long-haul routes as well. The flights leave SJC at 6:35am, 8:55am, 2:50pm, and 6:50pm. Oh, and the best part... they start at $49 each way.

Not enough airline news for the day? Delta has decided to add four daily flights of its own to LAX. Unlike Virgin, these will be serviced by a regional jet instead of a large plane.

Source: SVBJ here, here, and here

Photos of Inaugural ANA Flight From San Jose to Tokyo

Our good friend from WMS Media -- which also happens to live in AXIS -- managed to get some great shots of the first Boeing 787 in the Bay Area. We wish this route much success, and it's off to a great start with the initial flight selling every seat. Also, as as sidenote look for the new 49ers stadium under construction in the last photo... had no idea it would be that visible from the airport.

Saturday Stats: SJC Has the Top On-Time Performance in California

Since we're just days away from getting an international direct flight to Tokyo, I figured that this would be a good week to do an airport related Saturday stat. Last year, San Jose International was ranked as having the best on-time performance in California. This shouldn't be a huge surprise given our good weather, a streamlined airport layout, and advanced systems for handling luggage. Heck, the last few flights I have taken out of SJC ended up arriving early.

On the other side of the Bay, SFO came in dead last in terms of on-time performance for California airports.

In terms of all medium to large airports in the US, San Jose ranked 4th in on-time performance, Oakland claimed the 17th spot, Sacramento took 20th, and SFO ranked 64th. 65 airports were evaluated.

Source: SiliconBeat

ANA (All Nippon Airways) Moves to San Jose

Well, the ANA news continues to get better and better. Their five-times-per-week direct flight between San Jose and Tokyo kicks off January 11th on a brand new 787 Dreamliner. Now they have announced that they are going to move from the San Francisco area to Gateway Place in San Jose, very close to SJC. This is a positive sign that if things go well with this flight they may double down on San Jose and add more routes and flights. There is already talk of making the direct flight to Tokyo 7 days a week instead of 5 in the summer.

All Nippon Airways (ANA) Officially Adds San Jose-Tokyo Route!

Well, it's finally official. Come January 11th of next year, San Jose International will have a direct flight to Narita International in Tokyo. To top it off, the plane used is going to be a Boeing 787, a brand new aircraft with incredible amenities and comfort in all classes.

There will be 5 round trip flights each week (no flights on Tues and Thurs). The San Jose flight will depart at 11:45am and arrive in Tokyo at 4:10pm. The Tokyo flight will leave at 4:35pm and arrive at 10:10am the next day in San Jose.

I'm hoping for a fare sale to launch the new route and that many more international flights will be coming to SJC!

Source: SJBJ

SJC - Your high speed gateway to Silicon Valley Video

Brand new video from WMSMedia about SJC:

Wednesday Wishlist: More International Flights

A couple weeks ago news broke in the San Jose Business Journal that the city council is trying to resurrect flights between SJC and Tokyo. I remember taking that flight many years ago and thinking how awesome it was to have a direct flight to someplace as exotic as Japan (exotic to me, that was my first time in Asia). With so many Silicon Valley companies that are either subsidiaries of Japanese counterparts or that have major operations in Japan, this seems like a no-brainer connection to have.

Each new international flight brings with it increased convenience for consumers and business alike, and adds economic benefit to the local community. These types of connections are also important in increasing our international visibility.

Here are the top countries I think we need direct flights to based on Silicon Valley business relationships and the population distribution of San Jose (Mexico is already nicely covered by SJC):

• Japan
• Vietnam
• London / Ireland
• India
• Korea
• Italy
• China / Hong Kong
• France
• Israel
• Dubai
• Russia
• Portugal

Any others you think should be on the list and why?

 

SJC Terminal B Retail is Fully Leased

The 50,000 sqft of retail space in San Jose International Airport's shiny new Terminal B is now 100% occupied. The last couple spots were taken by San Jose Joe's (Original Joe's) and Tres Gringos.

In other retail news, The Pasta Market is now open at the San Jose Market Center off Coleman.

Alaskan Preps New International Flights to Guadalajara, Mexico

Alaskan Airlines just keeps pumping out more and more flights out of SJC. Beginning Dec. 15th, Alaskan will add 4 flights per week to Guadalajara. The flights will leave at 10:50pm on Mon, Tues, Thurs, and Sat and arrive at 5:00am local time the following day. For more info, click here.

New Hypothetical Scenario For SJC

5 months ago Anthony Dominguez, one of our readers, posed a hypothetical question regarding the need for our airport occupying prime real estate in central San Jose. In this post, he proposed to consolidate operations with SFO, which will eventually be a very short High-Speed Rail ride away.

Today, Anthony proposes a different scenario. Instead of merging with SFO, he's proposing to combine SJC operations with the Hollister Municipal Airport, where there are vast amounts of space to build a world class international airport. He wrote an in-depth document about this over here, of which I'll just post the proposed benefits:

Benefits Of A New SJC/Hollister - San Jose
a ) No building height restrictions in the downtown, central San Jose or along the N. First Street corridor.
b ) Aircraft noise elimination for vast areas of central San Jose.
c ) Opportunity to redevelop the current Mineta/SJC site into revenue generating urban development, including the adaptive reuse of current terminal/parking complex.
d ) Future population growth for San Jose could now be accommodated in high-rise/high density developments at the Mineta site, downtown core and N. First Street/Monterey Hwy. corridors.
e ) Shared revenues from SJC/Hollister operation.

Benefits Of A New SJC/Hollister - Hollister/San Benito County

a ) Economic stimulus in the form of tax revenue from airport and related developments; i.e. hospitality, retail, aviation support services.
b ) Employment opportunities associated with airport and service/support operations.
c ) High-speed rail connectivity to San Jose, Silicon Valley and Central California for Hollister and San Benito County commuters/travelers.

In order for you to be able to read the entire proposal, I posted it as a public Google Doc. Click here to access the document!

Alaskan Adds ANOTHER Flight, San Jose to Los Cabos

Yet another Alaskan Airlines flight is in the works for our newly remodeled airport. This time, it's an international flight to Los Cabos, Mexico--a popular tourist destination with many great beaches and hotels. This is the first international flight SJC has added in quite some time [CORRECTION - Voltaris added a flight to Mexico on June 30th]. Pending approval, the new route kicks off Nov 20th with service 3 times per week. For more info, you know the drill.

SJC Gains Yet Another Flight (Kauai, HI)!

San Jose International's opulent expansion already seems to be paying dividends. Alaskan Airlines is adding yet another direct flight to Hawaii. They added Maui and Kona flights earlier this year, and now Kauai is receiving SJC express treatment. Fares will start at $179 each way and flights kick off March 27th, 2011. More info in the San Jose Business Journal.

Latest San Jose Airport Construction Photos

Taken from the SJC Website.