Air Canada on May 9 launched a new route between Vancouver International Airport and San Jose’s Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport.
It is part of a flurry of new routes that the airline is launching out of Vancouver this spring. Other new cities for Air Canada out of Vancouver include Chicago, San Diego and Dublin. The airline is also doubling its number of flights between Vancouver and London's Heathrow Airport on a seasonal basis.
The airline’s Air Canada Express division will fly the Vancouver to San Jose route twice daily and it is the only airline to fly non-stop between the two cities.
Vancouver Airport Authority CEO Criag Richmond said the new route “answers the demand for a direct link between Vancouver’s tech sector and heart of the Silicon Valley.”
B.C.’s tech sector is estimated to generate more than $15 billion in gross domestic product (GDP). It employs more than 100,000 technology workers at Vancouver-based companies such as Hootsuite and Slack and in the offices of global technology giants, such as Microsoft and Sony Imageworks among others.
“Starting this new route as a twice daily service is a significant investment by Air Canada and a testament to how much our local tech industry is flourishing,” Richmond said.
He estimates that the new route will create 107 new jobs in the transportation and tourism sectors, $4.5 million in wages and approximately $8.2 million in GDP in the province.
Air Canada Express will operate the service using a Bombardier CRJ705 with seat capacity for 75 passengers.
Flights leave Vancouver daily at 8:45 a.m. and 5:05 p.m. They land in San Jose at 10:52 a.m. and 7:10 p.m. respectively.
