Taiwan-based China Airlines is planning on adding a new route to the United States. I can’t believe how competitive this market is becoming, and how quickly it’s happening…
China Airlines will fly to Seattle
As of July 14, 2024, China Airlines will start flying between Taipei (TPE) and Seattle (SEA). The flight will operate with the following schedule, as flagged by AeroRoutes:
CI22 Taipei to Seattle departing 11:30PM arriving 7:50PM
CI21 Seattle to Taipei departing 1:40AM arriving 5:05AM (+1 day)
The 6,075-mile flight will operate 5x weekly. The eastbound flight is blocked at 11hr20min and will operate every day except Wednesday and Friday, while the westbound flight is blocked at 12hr25min and will operate every day except Thursday and Saturday. This route will actually mark a service resumption, as China Airlines last operated this route back in 2008.
China Airlines will use an Airbus A350-900 for the route, featuring 306 seats. This includes 32 business class seats, 31 premium economy seats, and 243 economy seats. You can read my review of China Airlines’ A350 business class here.
This new flight is now bookable through the end of the summer schedule (October 27, 2024), and should soon become bookable for the winter schedule and beyond. China Airlines’ other destinations in the United States include Los Angeles (LAX), New York (JFK), Ontario (ONT), and San Francisco (SFO).
Taipei to Seattle is becoming very competitive!
The level of service growth we’re seeing between Taipei and Seattle is pretty unprecedented. Currently EVA Air flies this route up to 10x weekly, and has the market to itself. However, this route is about to get much busier:
- As of June 2024, Delta will launch 7x weekly flights
- As of July 2024, China Airlines will launch 5x weekly flights
- As of August 2024, Starlux will launch 3x weekly flights
So in total, the market will go from 10x weekly flights to 25x weekly flights. I’m curious, can anyone think of another long haul international route that went from one airline to four airlines over the course of a couple of months?
This is a market that EVA Air has been serving for quite some time, and quite successfully, based on how service has grown. Then we’ve known for some time that Starlux planned to add service to Seattle as well, but Delta beat Starlux to the punch (it’s anyone’s guess if that was a proactive competitive response, or if the route was in Delta’s roadmap prior to that). And now China Airlines wants in on the action as well.
I’m curious if this market is able to sustain 25 weekly flights with even half decent yields. It seems to me like if there were an airline that might reduce service to Seattle, it would be EVA Air, despite being the established player.
That’s both because of the amount of service the airline offers, plus EVA Air being in Star Alliance, so having limited connectivity beyond Seattle. Meanwhile China Airlines is part of SkyTeam (so has Delta connectivity), while Starlux has a partnership with Alaska.
Bottom line
As of July 2024, China Airlines will launch a new route between Taipei and Seattle, operating 5x weekly. What’s remarkable is that this market is going from one airline to four airlines over the course of just a couple of months, which is a level of service growth we almost never see. I’m very curious if this level of service can be sustained.
What do you make of China Airlines’ plans to launch Seattle flights? Do you think the market can sustain four airlines?
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