Starlux Airlines is planning to unfold its wings throughout Asia and to North America, and Australia may additionally discover its approach to that record.
The Taiwanese start-up, which describes itself as a “detail-oriented luxury airline”, launched solely in January this yr with a handful of short-range routes spearing out from its Taipei base, which includes Airbus A321neo jets fitted with lie-flat enterprise class seats.
Starlux is now mapping out the launch of long-range flights, forward of the supply of recent Airbus A350 jets on the finish of 2021.
The US figures massively in its trans-Pacific community, with approval now obtained from Taiwan’s aviation authority for as much as 15 locations: amongst them Honolulu, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, and Washington DC.
The cities which make the minimize from that laundry record will probably be visited by Starlux’s 18-strong fleet of A350-900 and A350-1000 jets, which is able to sport each business class and first-class, from early 2022.
Starlux Chief Public Relations Officer Nie Kuo-Wei flagged that a number of essential elements will form that bold enlargement schedule, together with the ultimate supply timeline for the A350s.
Nonetheless, Starlux has additionally signed on the dotted line for eight A330neo jets: an extra environment friendly and fashionable model of the favored A330 ‘basic’ flown right here by Qantas and until recently Virgin Australia, in addition to Asian stalwarts Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines, Garuda Indonesia and Malaysia Airlines.
The primary of the A330-900neo jets is due in late 2021 and will embody flights to Australia.
A spokesperson for Starlux confirmed to Government Traveller that its A330neo locations “are nonetheless beneath analysis”, and a choice on whether or not not the airline will fly to Australia has not but been made.
Australia’s east coast capitals are already served by Taiwan’s China Airlines and EVA Air, and Qantas has just lately flagged the potential of launching direct flights to Taipei ought to an Australia-Taiwan journey bubble open up.
