Starlux, Taiwan’s newest full service airline, plans to begin operations to the United States by 2023 with its first destination being Los Angeles (LAX). Through its social media channels, the company is already recruiting personnel in the U.S., including sales and airport operations staff.
Previously the Taipei-based carrier had applied to the Department of Transportation (DOT) to start non-stop services to the United States from June 2022, these plans were delayed due to global health restrictions, the airline planned to start its first route to the U.S. in Airbus A350-900 aircraft with a capacity of 306 seats.
According to data compiled by Aviacionline through Cirium indicates that 1,203,502 seats were offered in 3,592 air operations in 2019 between Taipei and Los Angeles.
Starlux currently has an order of 10 Airbus A350-900 and 8 Airbus A350-1000, these aircraft will be used for its long-haul missions in the coming years, currently the company’s first A350-900 registered with the registration number B-58501 is in the assembly process at the Airbus factory in Toulouse, the first unit is expected to be received this year.
The first #Airbus #A350 Starlux is back in storage, its first flight will surely not take place in 2021… 😢 pic.twitter.com/IQdVbvugxW
— Aviation Toulouse (@Frenchpainter) September 28, 2021
According to data obtained by Aviacionline through Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), 1,013,660 passengers were flown between Taipei and the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second largest market between Taiwan and the United States behind only San Francisco. Starlux will compete in this segment against China Airlines and EVA Air.
In 2021, the Taiwanese startup applied to the CAA to operate 15 routes in the U.S. that include the following services: Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Guam (GUM), Honolulu (HNL), Seattle (SEA), Ontario (ONT), New York (JFK), Houston (IAH), Chicago (ORD), Newark (EWR), Washington (IAD), San Jose, CA (SJC), Dallas (DFW), Miami (MIA) and Boston (BOS).
The United States is Taiwan’s top long-haul market and fifth internationally, with CAA data indicating that 3,080,558 passengers were flown between the two countries in 2019.
Starlux currently owns a fleet of 9 Airbus A321neo and 2 Airbus A330-900neo operating its intra-Asia routes in 13 destinations, it also plans to be the only airline operator in Taiwan to offer First Class this product will be available on Airbus A350, the airline has plans to expand in North America, Europe and Australia.
See also: Starlux Airlines took delivery of its first A330neo
