Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s new ”detail oriented luxury airline, sure is countering the industry trend. Last week the airline announced it would introduce first class on its A350 fleet, and today it has been revealed that Starlux has ordered additional planes, some of which will be delivered as early as next year.
Continue reading: Whoa: Starlux Airlines Orders Airbus A330-900neos
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
This is good to see, kept expecting to see a news report that they'd folded. Must have huge financial backing.
This is good news to see. And yea, 5th freedom routes from them would be great.
Starlux is privately owned by the Evergreen logistics magnate, among the wealthiest in Taiwan.
This is a genuine question, not intended to get political - do "mainland" Chinese look down on Taiwanese airlines? Would they ever fly them, or is that a big no-no? (Talking about wealthy Chinese, businessmen etc. here).
I'm wondering if Starlux sees an opportunity to go after Cathay. With CX's financial troubles, and the political changes in Hong Kong, Starlux may see an opportunity to supplant the Chinese luxury leader.
@peter, I highly doubt mainland Chinese look down on Taiwanese airlines as airlines in China isn’t exactly top 10 in the world in terms of service and hardware. If a Shanghai business guy needs to fly to Taipei for work, I’m pretty sure he could careless what airline he flies with to Taipei as long as it’s nonstop and safe. People in general care about service, hardware, price, and route. Mainland Chinese are the same as everyone else in the world. The only people who cares about those political rhetorics are career politicians.
Mainland Chinese can transfer via HK to the world, not so much via Taipei (As much as many people want this to happen.
Also they’re mostly fine with Taiwan airlines as airlines stay apolitical.
@Peter
above commenters are right. In fact, very few Chinese I know have ever flown the Taiwanese airlines. Reasons? 1.They are only offering flights to Taiwan and the prices cannot compete with MU/CZ/CA/HU. 2.Mainlanders cannot transit via TPE, so unless you are specifically looking for a trip to Taiwan you cannot fly CI/BR. 3. The Taiwanese airlines do not have advertising campaign in mainland, so even fewer know about these already quite small airlines, well, small compared to the mainland giants.
Makes total sense (if) Starlux was able to score a really good deal on those A330/neos. Had plans to travel to Taipei earlier this year, but that plan got scuttled obviously by COVID-19. Really hope Starlux joins an alliance and/or partners with some U.S. airlines.
More than anything, I hope Taiwan will open up soon (even if there's a 14 day quarantine in place). Wonderful country, amazing people and delicious food.
A330-900neo seems like a really good fit for the busier Taiwan - Japan routes.
And no doubt they got a really good deal on them.
I still remember the smug face of Starlux's CEO when they confirmed their initial Airbus purchases, which was shortly after the 737 max saga. The media asked him he was always a Boeing guy, why he went all Airbus with his own airline. He literally said it was about buying the right planes, at the right time.
The market for Taiwan japan flights is huge. Taiwan actually has direct flights to 28!!! airports in japan, and there are even airports in japan where the only international flight is to Taipei (HKD for example). We’ll see if starlux can break into this market, as there are too many LCCs too.
I'm very excited to see what Starlux can do in the next few years. I have more faith and belief in them more so than any other startup airline I've ever seen. Obviously, with EVA Air and China Airlines Taiwan already has very high standards. I hope Starlux can further bring something new to the table and innovate. As someone who travels between the US and Southeast Asia on a fairly regular basis, I do hope to see myself on a Starlux plane many times in the years to come.