Starlux Airlines today became the first airline in Taiwan to take delivery of an Airbus A350-1000 aircraft when the wide-body plane with Starlux livery arrived in Taiwan.
The aircraft, registered as B-58551, was yesterday delivered to a team led by Starlux Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (張國煒) at Airbus headquarters in Toulouse, France, the company said in statement late last night.
The plane departed Toulouse at 2:10pm yesterday, and landed at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at about 10am today.
Photo courtesy of Starlux Airlines
The aircraft is scheduled to begin service next month, and five more of the 18 A350-1000s Starlux has ordered are expected to be delivered this year, the company said.
The addition of the A350-1000 marks the airline's entry into the "larger, more competitive" long-haul market and would "play a crucial role" in expanding its North American and European network of destinations, Starlux CEO Glenn Chai (翟健華) said.
The A350-1000, the largest aircraft in Starlux's fleet, features 350 seats across four cabin classes and a maximum range of 15,600km, the company said.
With the latest addition, Starlux operates 30 aircraft, which also include 10 A350-900s, six A330neos and 13 A321neos.
The only destinations the airline flies to outside of Asia are Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Ontario, California, and it soon plans to launch direct flights to Phoenix, Arizona.
Though Starlux was the first Taiwanese airline to take delivery of the A350-1000, it is not the only local carrier interested in the plane.
Taiwan's two other major international carriers, China Airlines and EVA Air, have ordered 15 and 24 A350-1000s, respectively.
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