Plans for a new airline to be called StarLux includes employing a staff of 3,500 to run a fleet of 24 planes in the first six years, a close associate of the carrier’s founder said on Saturday.
The goal is to start commercial operation by the end of 2019, targeting passengers transiting between Southeast Asia and North America, said Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維), a former EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) spokesman and a close associate of StarLux Airlines Co (星宇航空) founder Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒), the former EVA chairman.
Nieh said an application will be submitted to the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) by the end of the year to establish the company, and the contracts for the purchase or lease of aircraft will be finalized by next year.
StarLux’s goal for its second six-year period will be to increase its staff to 7,000 or 8,000 and acquire 26 more planes, he said.
The plan is to start by targeting the Southeast Asian market in the first year of operation, then expand into Northeast Asia before extending services to the west coast of North America in its second year, he said.
StarLux will seek to differentiate itself from other carriers by offering luxury services and making its economy class more comfortable than usual, he said.
According postings on StarLux’s Facebook page, the aircraft models that the company is looking at include Airbus’ A321neo, A350, A350-1000 aircraft and Boeing Co’s 787 and 777X planes.
StarLux aims to have initial routes to Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Japan and Macau, according to the page.
StarLux started recruitment earlier this month and is expected to begin hiring office staff, pilots and flight attendants soon, Nieh said.
Chang Kuo-wei became chairman of EVA Airways in January 2013, but a war of succession after his father, Evergreen Group founder Chang Jung-fa (張榮發), died in January last year, cost him the job.
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