Japanese carrier ZIPAIR has increased capacity to California with additional weekly flights to San Jose. Between January and March 2023, the low-cost airline will increase from three flights per week to five, operated by its fleet of Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
ZIPAIR adds frequencies to San Jose
From January 11 to March 25, the Japanese low-cost airline ZIPAIR will increase its capacity on its Tokyo Narita (NRT) – San Jose (SJC) route with five weekly flights during this period. The Japan Airlines subsidiary is expected to launch the new route on December 12 with an initial offer of three flights per week.
By announcing this route in September, ZIPAIR made it clear that it hoped to offer daily frequencies by 2023 and could do so during the next summer season. San José is on the way to becoming the third American destination of the ZIPAIR network, after Honolulu and Los Angeles.
ZIPAIR’s foray into San Jose represents the first time in nearly three years that the Californian city will be directly connected to Tokyo. At the beginning of 2020, Tokyo-San Jose was served by All Nippon Airways, but the carrier left the airport following the COVID pandemic.
ANA currently plans to return to San Jose in March 2023, although it will switch to Tokyo Haneda Airport (HND). ZIPAIR’s parent airline, Japan Airlines, currently operates 11 weekly flights from Tokyo – NRT and HND – to San Francisco International Airport, located just 50 km from SJC.
Operated by the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner
All flights on this route will be served by the Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. ZIPAIR’s Dreamliners can carry up to 290 passengers in a two-class configuration – 18 in business class and 272 in economy class.
The full schedule (Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun) is as follows:
- Flight ZG 30: Tokyo Narita to San Jose – departs NRT at 4:00 p.m., arrives at SJC at 8:10 a.m.
- Flight ZG 29: San Jose to Tokyo Narita – departs SJC at 10:10 a.m., arrives at NRT at 2:30 p.m.+1.
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is the only aircraft operated by Japan’s LCC, which has a small fleet of four Boeing 787-8s. ZIPAIR’s fleet has an average age of over 10 years, with all four Dreamliners previously flying under parent company Japan Airlines.
Impressive winter offers
ZIPAIR can expect to offer a varied program this winter. The carrier will serve Los Angeles (LAX), San Jose, California (SJC), Honolulu (HNL), Singapore (SIN), Bangkok Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Seoul Incheon (ICN) with up to 20,000 weekly seats on offer.
Photo: ZIPAIR
Japan’s LCC launched its first passenger flight in October 2020, with its inaugural service carrying just two passengers between Tokyo and Seoul. It will be interesting to see how well the airline’s no-frills long-haul model fares in a post-pandemic world.
Have you ever had the chance to fly with ZIPAIR? How did you find the overall experience? Let us know your stories in the comments.