Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) has officially become the nation’s seventh international carrier after the Ministry of Transportation and Communications approved its application yesterday.
The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) last week forwarded Starlux’s application to the ministry for final approval after the carrier passed four of the five certification procedures stated in the Regulations of Civil Air Transport Enterprise (民用航空運輸業管理規則).
They included procedures the company was obligated to complete before and after it filed the application, as well as the CAA’s review of its paperwork and aircraft tests.
Photo courtesy of Starlux Airlines
The fifth and final stage was approval by Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).
The CAA will be in charge of issuing an air operator’s certificate to the airline following the ministry’s approval, Lin said.
Although it has obtained an air operator’s certificate, Starlux still has to apply for an airline call sign from the International Civil Aviation Organization, as well as an airline code from the International Air Transport Association, the company said.
The airline code is used to label the flight number in the ticket-booking system, it said.
Starlux also needs to obtain air route certificates from the CAA to offer flights to Macau, Vietnam’s Da Nang City and Malaysia’s Penang state — three destinations that it plans to launch simultaneously on Jan. 23.
The company has not announced when travelers can start booking tickets for the three inaugural flights.
Media reports had said that Starlux chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒), who is a licensed pilot, could operate one of the inaugural flights himself.
However, Starlux spokesman Nieh Kuo-wei (聶國維) said that it is not likely, as Jan. 23 would be the first day of the airline’s operation and Chang would be busy hosting guests.
“We will not engage in a price war with other airlines, even though we are a new carrier. By the time we launch our operations, the nation will be about to celebrate the Lunar New Year holiday and many people are scheduled to travel and return homeduring that period. We will consider offering discounts from time to time after the launch of our services,” he said.
The company has leased 10 Airbus A321neo aircraft, with the first one arriving at the end of October.
The second and third aircraft are to arrive this month and in the middle of next month.
Deliveries of all 10 aircraft should be completed by 2022.
Starlux this year also signed a contract to purchase 17 Airbus A350 aircraft, which are to be delivered between 2021 and 2024.
It is scheduled to launch flight services to the US using the A350 aircraft in 2022.
People can preregister to receive their NT$10,000 (US$325) cash distributed from the central government on Nov. 5 after President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday signed the Special Budget for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience, the Executive Yuan told a news conference last night. The special budget, passed by the Legislative Yuan on Friday last week with a cash handout budget of NT$236 billion, was officially submitted to the Executive Yuan and the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. People can register through the official Web site at https://10000.gov.tw to have the funds deposited into their bank accounts, withdraw the funds at automated teller
PEACE AND STABILITY: Maintaining the cross-strait ‘status quo’ has long been the government’s position, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Taiwan is committed to maintaining the cross-strait “status quo” and seeks no escalation of tensions, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday, rebutting a Time magazine opinion piece that described President William Lai (賴清德) as a “reckless leader.” The article, titled “The US Must Beware of Taiwan’s Reckless Leader,” was written by Lyle Goldstein, director of the Asia Program at the Washington-based Defense Priorities think tank. Goldstein wrote that Taiwan is “the world’s most dangerous flashpoint” amid ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He said that the situation in the Taiwan Strait has become less stable
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
FRESH LOOK: A committee would gather expert and public input on the themes and visual motifs that would appear on the notes, the central bank governor said The central bank has launched a comprehensive redesign of New Taiwan dollar banknotes to enhance anti-counterfeiting measures, improve accessibility and align the bills with global sustainability standards, Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee yesterday. The overhaul would affect all five denominations — NT$100, NT$200, NT$500, NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 notes — but not coins, Yang said. It would be the first major update to the banknotes in 24 years, as the current series, introduced in 2001, has remained in circulation amid rapid advances in printing technology and security standards. “Updating the notes is essential to safeguard the integrity
RSS