British Airways starts San Jose-London Dreamliner service
British Airways launched daily nonstop service between California’s Mineta San Jose International Airport and London Heathrow Airport on Wednesday. BA is flying the route with Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
The new service, announced last August, supplements British Airways’ daily A380 service between London and San Francisco International Airport, about 35 miles away.
“London is the number one requested international destination from Mineta San Jose International Airport, and we’re pleased to now offer it to business and leisure travelers in our region,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement.
The SJC-LHR route has been a priority due to the strong business and leisure links between California’s Silicon Valley and a growing tech industry in London and the United Kingdom.
Silicon Valley companies have 428 locations throughout the UK. Conversely, UK companies have 118 locations in Silicon Valley, SJC airport said in a statement. “Nearly all major Silicon Valley tech companies have European headquarters in London and several offices located throughout continental Europe. Nonstop service to London with connections to over 130 cities offers the opportunity to enhance business and improve travel efficiency,” the airport noted.
To celebrate the inaugural flight, SJC held a party in Terminal B complete with a Beefeater leading a procession of guests to the gate where the kick-off ceremony was being held. There, guests could put on Mad Hatter hats and take a selfie with an image of the River Thames.
Silicon Valley being a hotbed of high-tech and SJC priding itself on being an innovative, high-tech airport, the celebration also featured a demonstration of an in-the-works, 3D augmented reality app called “Explore SJC.”
The app, created by Aisle411, makes use of Google’s Project Tango and will allow users to see virtual 3D graphics, helpful signage and point of interest pop-ups on their handheld devices.
Some of the augmented digital content shown off during the inaugural event included “a life-size animated shark swimming outside the Shark Cage restaurant, animated pints of beer outside The Brit restaurant, and an animated digital 3D replica of a British Airways airplane in front of the gate,” Aisle 411 CEO Nathan Pettyjohn told Today in the Sky.
The first smartphones with Project Tango sensors won’t be available to consumers until this summer so, for now, no sharks will get in the way of British Airways’ Flight 278, which will leave San Jose daily at 8:05 p.m., and arrive at London’s Heathrow Airport at 2:10 p.m. the next day, all times local. The return, BA Flight 279, leaves London daily at 3:25 p.m. and arrives in San Jose at 6:15 p.m., all times local.
British Airways’ four-cabin 787-9 Dreamliner has eight seats in the First cabin, 42 seats in Club World (business class), 39 in premium economy (World Traveller Plus) and 127 in economy (World Traveller).
The Wednesday launch of British Airways’ London service is the first of four nonstop international flights scheduled to debut at SJC this year. Air Canada begins service to Vancouver, Canada, on May 9. Lufthansa starts service to Frankfurt, Germany, on July 1. And Air China has received U.S. DOT approval for Shanghai service, with flights expected to begin this summer, the airport said in a statement.
Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and USA TODAY Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.