SJ Airport To Offer Direct Flights To Salt Lake City, Washington D.C.

BAY AREA, CA - Travelers will soon be able to take a direct flight from Mineta San Jose International Airport to either Salt Lake City or the nation's capital via new routes announced today.

Southwest Airlines will be offering flights from the South Bay airport to either Salt Lake International Airport in Salt Lake City or Washington, D.C., starting Nov. 6.

Flights will be offered daily to Baltimore Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport, which provides many connections to other East Coast cities, and twice a day to Salt Lake City International Airport.

"SJC has done an outstanding job of adding new routes from the heart of Silicon Valley," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said in a statement.

"Southwest Airlines' expansion from San Jose to Baltimore/Washington and Salt Lake City indicates their confidence that SJC will remain the airport of choice for Silicon Valley business and leisure travelers," Liccardo said.

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The country's capital was the second-most requested domestic destination based on a recent survey of Silicon Valley corporate employees, airport officials said. Washington, D.C., and other nearby cities have become destinations for people on high-tech and government business and tourism, according to airport officials.

Many people travel to Salt Lake City for business and education, along with visiting national parks and ski resorts, airport officials said. The San Jose airport already offers trips to the Utah capital through Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines.

"Two new nonstop routes here in San Jose, a city we've served since 1993, typifies the kind of difference we aim to make in connecting many of our long-time markets with time-saving service," said Andrew Watterson, senior vice president of network and revenue for Southwest Airlines.

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