Starlux Airlines (JX, Taipei Taoyuan) will launch services to North America in April next year, starting with flights to the west coast of the United States and gradually expanding to other destinations, spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei briefly told reporters on August 29 after a shareholders’ meeting in the Taiwanese capital.
Nieh had said one month ago that with pandemic restrictions easing, it was a good time to be planning Starlux’s first intercontinental route, which he named as Taipei Taoyuan-Los Angeles International, to launch after the Lunar New Year (January 22).
Though he did not mention Los Angeles on this occasion, Nieh did divulge that the airline also planned to offer flights to destinations in Europe, buoyed by a fleet expansion in which it will take delivery of eight new aircraft by the end of this year, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
The addition of four more A321neo (two A321-200Ns and two A321-200NXs), two more A330-900Ns, and its first two A350-900s will mean that by the end of 2022 Starlux will be operating a fleet of nineteen aircraft. Another two A350s and four A330s are due in 2023.
Nieh also addressed recent rumours about the relatives of StarLux Airlines’ majority owner and chairman Chang Kuo-wei acquiring shares in the carrier. His second brother Chang Kuo-ming and brother-in-law Cheng Shen-chih, who is also chairman of EVA Air affiliate Evergreen Group, have invested TWD300 million Taiwan new dollars (USD9.9 million) and TWD100 million (USD3.3 million) in the airline, respectively. Another brother, Chang Kuo-cheng, did not join them. The number of shares they bought is small, Nieh assured, about 1% to 2%, so there are no concerns among the Starlux management about the move.
