Taiwanese international airline
STARLUX Airlines (Chinese: 星宇航空; pinyin: Xīngyǔ Hángkōng; Wade–Giles: Hsingyu Hangk'ong) is a Taiwanese international airline company headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, and operated its first flight from Taipei to Macau on 23 January 2020.[3]
History
The company was registered in 2016 with the Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs.[4] This was confirmed by Chang Kuo-wei
on 30 November 2016, who was formerly the chairman of Taiwanese airline EVA Air.[5] The airline registered with the Taiwanese Civil Aeronautics Administration in the first half of 2017,[6] and it was planned, in late 2016, that the airline would commence operations in 2018.[7] The Taiwanese Ministry of Economic Affairs received the formal application for establishing the airline under the name Starlux Airlines on 22 May 2017.[8] In an interview in 2017, the airline was expected to start operations by the end of 2019,[9] though in January 2019, Chang stated that Starlux Airlines would launch in January 2020.[10]
In March 2019, the airline's chairman Chang Kuo-wei signed an order for 17 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft, which was also the country's largest single Airbus purchase agreement.[4] In September 2019, the airline announced the first destinations to be launched, consisting of Da Nang, Macau, and Penang to begin on 23 January 2020.[11] On 25 October 2019, the airline's first aircraft, an Airbus A321neo, was delivered from Hamburg, Germany, before the plane arrived at the airline's hub at Taoyuan International Airport on 29 October after making stops in Dubai and Bangkok.[12] On 10 December 2019, Starlux received its air operator's certificate (AOC) from the Taiwanese Civil Aeronautics Administration, followed by the formal opening of reservations on 16 December 2019 for the start of services the following month.[13][14]
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts on aviation, which began to occur within months of the airline's inauguration, Starlux announced the suspension of most of its services except to Da Nang.[15] Subsequently, in March 2020 the airline suspended all of its operations until 2 June 2020,[16] after which the airline resumed its three-weekly services to Macau.[17] Before the airline resumed service, it received clearance in May 2020 to begin services to Naha as its first destination in Japan, with a start date no earlier than 1 July, however the airline said that the timeline for Naha's service inauguration was dependent on the pandemic's developments.[18] Subsequently, due to the pandemic, the airline additionally delayed the launch of its Cebu services twice, and indefinitely postponed the launch of its services to Naha.[18]
Since its establishment in May 2018 until November 2022, the airline has had a staggering cumulative operating loss of NT$11.16 billion, with NT$3.91 billion in financial year 2020 and NT$4.04 billion in financial year 2021.
In August 2022, Starlux announced its plan to expand its services to North America in April 2023 as the travel industry starts to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]
Fleet
As of January 2023[update], Starlux Airlines operates an all-Airbus fleet composed of the following aircraft:[37]
Fleet development
In March 2019, Starlux announced it would start operations with 17 Airbus aircraft, consisting of 5 Airbus A350-900s and 12 Airbus A350-1000s for routes to Europe & North America as well as selected Asian destinations. The airline later planned to add 10 Airbus A321neos to its fleet to serve their Asian routes.[48] In November 2019, Starlux decided to swap four Airbus A350-1000 orders to four A350-900s. Hence, since the start of 2020, the orders stands at 9 A350-900s and 8 A350-1000s.[45]
Starlux had also considered the addition of the Airbus A330neo to its fleet.[49] This was followed by the airline placing an order for 8 Airbus A330-900s, alongside three additional A321neos and one leased A350-900 to its order backlog on 10 September 2020.[40] Starlux also announced during September 2020 that its Airbus A350s would feature a first class cabin.[50] During 2022, Starlux decided to swap all Airbus A350-1000 orders to A350-900s.[51]
As part of the plans, Starlux would become the first Taiwanese airline to fly the Airbus A321neo, and Airbus A330-900.[12][52][40]
In October 2022, Starlux received their first Airbus A350-900 at Airbus Headquarters in Toulouse, France. Their CEO personally flown this aircraft back to Taiwan.[53]
Cabins and services
In-flight entertainment
In-flight entertainment (IFE) is provided through seatback touchscreen systems, which are equipped with a USB power port and contain a selection of audio and video on demand (AVOD), as well as a live position mapping system. Starlux commissioned smooth jazz guitarist Peter White to provide a soundtrack for the entertainment system, which was commercially released on 29 November 2019 as Music for STARLUX Airlines.[54] The airline also offers in-flight internet access through satellite Wi-Fi.[55]
Business class
Starlux's Airbus A321neo business class cabin configuration.
The business class cabin has eight Collins Diamond seats in a 2-2 configuration on the Airbus A321neo. The seats are 20.19 inches (51.3 cm) wide and can be converted into a 82 in (210 cm) fully flat bed, featuring a 15.6 in (40 cm) IFE touchscreen. Wi-Fi internet access, meals, refreshments, and amenities including noise-cancelling headphones and blankets are provided complimentary to all business class passengers.[55][56]
For the A330-900 business cabin, the seats are configured in a 1-2-1 seating layout, which equipped with a 17.3 in (44 cm) 4K IFE touchscreen.[42]
Economy class
Starlux's Airbus A321neo economy class cabin configuration.
The economy class cabin has 180 seats in a 3-3 configuration on the Airbus A321neo. The seats are 18.36 inches (46.6 cm) wide, each with a 10.1 in (26 cm) IFE touchscreen and fitted with a leather headrest. Meals and some amenities such as pillows and headsets are provided complimentary, while Wi-Fi internet access only strong enough for in-flight messaging is freely available to all economy class passengers, with increased bandwidth and faster connection speeds available for an additional fee.[55][56]
-NT$4.04 billion (2021)
