Starlux Airlines (星宇航空) is eyeing the Asian market in the initial stages of its operation, with a focus on high-end travelers, chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) said yesterday.
“The Taiwanese market is too small, so we need to expand our focus to the Asian region,” said Chang, a former EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) chairman.
There is still room for growth in the aviation market, Starlux president Glenn Chai (翟健華) said, adding that the Asia-Pacific region would play a bigger role in the global market in the coming years.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
According to the International Air Transport Association, by 2035, 40 percent of a total of 7.2 billion global passengers would be traveling across the area, compared with 30 percent of 3.8 billion passengers in 2016.
Chang said that Starlux’s direct competitors are long-established carriers including Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd (國泰航空) and Singapore Airlines Ltd, as well as Taiwan-based China Airlines Ltd (中華航空) and EVA Airways.
Starlux might also go into the cargo business, he said.
He confirmed that former EVA Airways president Austin Cheng (鄭傳義) is to serve as the company’s vice chairman.
With registered capital of NT$30 billion (US$1 billion), the airline currently has 150 employees, but expects this number to rise to about 7,000 within 10 years, Chai said.
The company will seek to differentiate itself by targeting high-end travelers by introducing more modern and flexible services, Chang said.
Starlux will start by offering flights to East and Southeast Asian countries, with Japan “definitely one of our destinations,” he said.
It would then expand to North America, starting with the US west coast in two to three years, he added.
Starlux will start by leasing 10 Airbus A321neo narrow-body aircraft, with the first scheduled to arrive in October next year.
The airline is in the final stages of evaluation and selection for an additional 14 wide-body aircraft and will take delivery of the first of those by the end of 2021, it said.
With three A321neo aircraft flying the initial routes from Taipei to Southeast Asian and East Asian destinations, the carrier aims to expand its fleet to 24 aircraft by the end of 2024, serving more than 20 destinations in Asia and North America.
Chang was chairman of EVA Airways from 2013 to 2016, when he was ousted in a battle over control of the company following the death of his father, Evergreen Group (長榮集團) founder Chang Jung-fa (張榮發).
The Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) new Yunlin patrol vessel would enhance maritime patrol capabilities in the south, President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday told a commissioning ceremony in Kaohsiung for the 4,000-tonne vessel. The Yunlin, one of four Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels ordered from shipbuilder CSBC Corp, Taiwan (台灣國際造船), would join the coast guard’s Southern Sector Flotilla based in Kaohsiung, bolstering the unit’s ability to conduct patrols along with searches and rescues, Lai said. The ship is equipped with three high-pressure water cannons with a range of 120m for dispersal tasks, the Ocean Affairs Council said. In his speech, Lai said that the government’s
FREEDOM SEEKER? While the intruder, identified as an ex-Chinese navy captain, looked different from previous ‘defectors,’ it could be China testing Taiwan’s limits, an official said Taiwan has stepped up national security measures, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday, after a former Chinese navy captain was arrested for illegally entering the nation on a motorboat. “National security cannot be neglected for a minute,” he said, adding that security units had been instructed to “immediately strengthen protective measures.” Coast guard personnel arrested the man, surnamed Ruan (阮), on Sunday after his boat collided with other vessels at a ferry terminal on the Tamsui River (淡水河) in the north. Before that, he reportedly sailed the vessel into a harbor near the mouth of the river. Ruan is a retired member of
‘SAFER TAIWAN’: The president told ‘Time’ magazine that the new government under his administration ‘is willing to assist China and advance peace and prosperity’ A prosperous Taiwan can bring about progress in China, and Taipei seeks peace and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait, President William Lai (賴清德) told Time magazine in an exclusive interview published yesterday, his first since becoming president. Taiwan wishes for a stable and prosperous China, as it would help maintain peace and stability in the region, he said. “I have always believed that a stable China leads to a safer Taiwan. A prosperous Taiwan can also bring about progress in China,” he was quoted as saying, while asked if China’s problematic economy could be an opportunity for further engagement across strait.
HU GE NEWS: The actor visited Taipei and was on the same flight as an official Shanghai delegation, leading to accusations Taipei City was doing ‘united front’ work Taiwan is open to healthy interactions with China, but Beijing should not engage in “united front” campaigns, a Cabinet official said yesterday following a report that China is paying influencers to produce content it approves of. YouTuber Potter King (波特王) said that the Chinese government has been paying Taiwanese content creators to travel to China and produce videos favorable to Beijing. Cabinet spokesman Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) said that the government welcomes healthy and sustainable interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but China should not use “united front” tactics in the culture and entertainment sphere to target young Taiwanese. Potter King