Silicon Valley to Tokyo Flight to Start January 11, 2013

2012-08-23 — /travelprnews.com/ — All Nippon Airways Announces Schedule of New Service From San Jose SAN JOSE – All Nippon Airways (ANA) today announced the new nonstop service between Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) and Narita International Airport in Tokyo will start January 11, 2013. The inaugural flight will bring the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft to the Bay Area.

“We are looking forward to the launch of ANA’s new non-stop service between Tokyo and San Jose,” San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said. “Whether on business or visiting friends and family, Silicon Valley residents will find that ANA’s new flight offers a convenient connection to Japan and the Pacific Rim. I thank ANA for their investment in San Jose and encourage all Silicon Valley residents to experience the comfort, efficiency and ease of flying out of our state-of-the-art airport.”

The new flight will depart San Jose at 11:45 a.m. and arrive in Tokyo at 4:10 p.m. The return flight will leave Tokyo at 5:35 p.m. and arrive at SJC at 10:10 the following morning. The service is expected to start with five flights per week, excluding Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The afternoon arrival in Tokyo is timed to allow connections to destinations throughout Asia, including Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Delhi, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Bangkok, and Manila. The new route will be available for booking August 30.

“This is a significant game changer for our airport and I’m confident it will open the door for more flights to serve Silicon Valley,” said Aviation Director Bill Sherry. “The new ANA service is the culmination of years of work and the strong and active support from our business, community and elected leaders.”

San Jose officials have been in discussions with ANA since 2008. In February 2011, Mayor Reed and Carl Guardino, CEO of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, traveled to Tokyo to meet with ANA CEO Shinichiro Ito and other airline executives to discuss the benefits of a direct flight between Tokyo and San Jose.

The Silicon Valley Leadership Group, San Jose Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce have been actively engaged in the effort to recruit direct service to Tokyo, which is a priority travel route for Silicon Valley businesses.

“While this is terrific news because service to Japan opens up all of Asia as well, it’s only the first step which was to secure the flight and a start date. The real work, to which the 375 CEOs who own the Silicon Valley Leadership Group are committed, is to ensure those ANA flights are full,” said Guardino. “Like Orville and Wilbur Wright, this has been a partnership from day one, between the Leadership Group and Mayor Chuck Reed. After two years of hard work, we have lift off.”

ANA will use its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft on the Tokyo Narita-San Jose route. Built mainly from carbon fiber composite material, the 787 features increased fuel efficiency and passenger comfort. ANA was the launch customer of the 787, ordering 55 of the aircraft in 2004 and taking delivery of the inaugural aircraft this year.

SJC currently offers international service to Guadalajara and Cabo San Lucas. American Airlines operated a Tokyo-San Jose route from 1990 to 2006, and routes to Paris and Taipei in 2001.

About ANA Group
All Nippon Airways (ANA) is the ninth largest airline in the world by revenues and the largest in Japan by passenger numbers. Founded in 1952, it flies today to 76 domestic and international cities in a fleet of 231 aircraft serving a network of 174 routes. ANA has 33,000 employees and operates about 1,000 flights a day. In 2011, it carried 43 million passengers and generated revenues of $17.1 billion. ANA has been a core member of the Star Alliance since 1999 and launched a joint-venture with United Airlines on trans-Pacific and Asia routes in April 2011; ANA launched a joint-venture with Lufthansa on Japan-Europe routes in October 2011. ANA has more than 23 million members in the ANA Mileage Club, its frequent flyer program. ANA is the launch customer for the world’s newest and most advanced passenger aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. For more news and information, visit the All Nippon newsroom at www.ana.co.jp.

About Mineta San Jose International Airport
Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) is Silicon Valley’s airport, a selfsupporting enterprise owned and operated by the City of San Jose. SJC serves approximately 8.4 million passengers per year with approximately 125 flights a day on nine domestic and international carriers to 29 nonstop destinations. The airport’s recent $1.3 billion comprehensive modernization project, completed in 2010, makes SJC the most technologically advanced airport in the nation and the first terminal to be awarded LEED Silver certification for environmental sustainability.

Silicon Valley’s airport is located in San Jose, California’s third largest city and the nation’s tenth largest city. For more airport information, visit www.flysanjose.com.

– SJC –

Contacts:
Vicki Day, (408) 482-1613
SJC Interim Communications Director

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