Addendum
Taiwan’s STARLUX Airlines approved to fly to the U.S.
June 1st 2021
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT) has issued Taiwanese full-service carrier, STARLUX Airlines, with a foreign air carrier permit, effective from April 26. Read More » The DoT ruling opens the way for the carrier’s planned expansion to North America in 2022.
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STARLUX inaugurated Taipei-Ho Chi Minh City, with three round-trip flights a week, in mid-May after a series of regional destination launches were thwarted by COVID-19.
But the images taken by plane spotters outside the Airbus A330neo and A350s Toulouse Final Assembly Lines indicate the carrier is on track for fleet deliveries from the European OEM and long-haul expansion.
STARLUX Airlines CEO and former EVA Air chairman, Chang Kuo-Wei, said the carrier intends to introduce U.S. destinations to its network in late 2022, alongside development of a regional network.
STARLUX has leased four A321neo and ordered A330neo and A350s. Chang, a qualified commercial pilot, flew the delivery flight of the first STARLUX A321neo to Taipei from Toulouse. The A350-900s will begin arriving at the Taipei-headquartered carrier from early next year until 2024, the airline said. Chang has stellar star status in Taiwan where his two-year old full-service carrier has shaken up the country’s staid airline landscape.
