Starlux Airlines will begin scheduled flights to San Francisco (SFO) from its home base in Taipei, Taiwan, in December. The Taiwanese carrier will welcome revenue passengers 3 times every week on the route before expanding the frequency to once each day from next yr. San Francisco will probably be the airline’s second destination in California and in america. It began flights to Los Angeles in April.
Starlux Airlines
Headquartered in Taipei, Starlux Airlines was founded in 2018 as a “detail-oriented luxury airline” in Taiwan. The airline commenced operations in January 2020 with its first flight to Macau. Because of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic inside weeks of the airline’s inauguration, Starlux announced the suspension of all of its operations until July 2020. The airline operates a contemporary fleet of 20 Airbus aircraft, including 13 A321neos, 4 A330-900s, and three A350-900s. The airline currently serves over 20 destinations worldwide.
Following the delivery of the primary two Airbus A350s in October 2022, the corporate showed interest in expanding its services to North America. In February 2023, the airline confirmed its plans with the announcement of scheduled services to Los Angeles (LAX) from April 26, 2023. In response to CEO Glenn Chai,
Today we rejoice a serious milestone for STARLUX — completion of our very first long-haul flight from Taipei to Los Angeles. It’s a gratifying moment as we reflect on our early 2020 launch flights that took place right before the pandemic. We remained undaunted and forged ahead, leveraging Taipei’s geographical advantage to expand routes to 16 Asian destinations.
Around the identical time, Starlux announced a strategic partnership with Alaska Airlines, which enables travelers to book a single flight across each networks while earning rewards through their respective loyalty programs.
The brand new route
The airline has not yet revealed the schedule for the 6,470-mile route between the 2 cities. Nevertheless, the airline will deploy its fleet of Airbus A350-900s on the route. Starlux’s A350s feature 306 seats spread across 4 cabins, including 4 in top quality, 26 in business, 36 in premium economy, and 240 in economy class. With 18 A350-900s on order, the airline is the primary in Taiwan to supply top quality seats.
Photo: Starlux
Starlux will probably be competing with two other global airlines of Taiwan, China Airlines and EVA Air, on the route. Each carriers fly to Los Angeles and San Francisco from Taipei. Town becomes a shared hub for 3 international carriers.
The corporate hopes to introduce flights to Seattle in 2024 as its next North American destination. The airline’s Chair, Chang Kuo-wei, expressed interest in introducing flights to Indonesia (Jakarta) and Japan in 2024. With the aviation industry still recovering from the COVID pandemic and the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, ticket prices are expected to stay high.
Photo: danielou_shots I Shutterstock.
Chang stated that it could take two to 3 years before the period of pricy flights cooled down and stabilized. Starlux Airlines mainly focuses on international destinations from its hub. Often called a luxury carrier, the airline isn’t currently keen on offering domestic flights.
What are your thoughts in regards to the announcement of the brand new route by Taiwan’s Starlux Airline? Tell us within the comments section.