Asian Luxury Airline STARLUX Flies Airbus A350s To California
STARLUX Airbus A350-900 at the gate at Seattle International Airport.
Under the radar, a luxury airline has been growing in Asia and now in the U.S. market as well. Based in Taipei, STARLUX is a luxury international airline that now serves more than 20 Asian destinations with its modern fleet of Airbus aircraft. In the U.S., STARLUX flies to Los Angeles, Seattle, San Francisco, and now Ontario, CA.
The airline had its inaugural flights on January 23, 2020, flying its Taiwan hub to Macau, Da Nang and Penang. One of the flights, to Macau and back, was flown by STARLUX Chairman K.W. Chiang. As a passionate qualified pilot, Chang enjoyed taking the opportunity to fly the company's new aircraft. In addition to the Macau flight, he ferried the airline's first A321neos from Airbus in Hamburg back to Taipei!
The new airline survived COVID-19 and kept growing. On June 2, STARLUX celebrated the inaugural flight of its new Ontario–Taipei route. As it landed in Ontario, CA (ONT), at 5:05PM, the big Airbus A350-900 was greeted by a water cannon salute from assembled firetrucks. And before Flight JX9 headed back to Taipei at 11:05PM, the airline held a celebratory gate launch, featuring a ribbon cutting, cake cutting, a symbolic gift exchange of a commemorative aircraft model, a live string duet, and refreshments
Ontario International Airport, (ONT), is the fourth U.S. gateway for STARLUX following LAX, SFO, and SEA. The new Taipei to Ontario service, operated on the company's state-of-the-art Airbus A350-900 aircraft, connects Southern California with 24 destinations across Asia. STARLUX now flies between Ontario and the airline's hub at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) four times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
From its hub at TPE, STARLUX serves Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Cebu, Clark, Da Nang, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Phu Quoc Island), Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore, Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, Hakodate, Sapporo, Sendai, Okinawa, Macau, Hong Kong, and Jakarta (starting September 1.)
The Business Class cabin on a STARLUX A350-900 showing the Business Class cabin and its "pods."
Ontario is the airport of California's 'Inland Empire' of Riverside and San Bernadino counties. Ontario can also be an alternate to ever jammed and under construction LAX. The Ontario airport is about 45 miles from downtown Los Angeles, 35 from Orange County, and just over an hour's drive from Palm Sprins.
The greater Los Angeles area also boasts one of the largest and most diverse Asian American communities in the country. Southern California is home to more than 2.5 million Asian Americans according to the 2020 U.S. Census, including significant Taiwanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Korean communities. With Ontario's proximity to these communities, STARLUX says it is 'poised to connect families, friends, and businesses across the Pacific.'
'This new route is an important milestone for STARLUX,' said Walter Liang, Chief Passenger Commercial Officer of STARLUX Airlines. 'Ontario's strategic location within the Greater Los Angeles area positions us to better connect the diverse communities of Southern California to and from Asia in luxury and comfort. The new service also offers travelers into and out of the Los Angeles area more flexibility and convenience when planning their travel with STARLUX, as they now have the choice of 14 flights a week across two airports.'
The STARLUX fleet consists of three types of efficient, new-generation Airbus aircraft, the A321neo, A330neo, and A350-900. STARLUX is serving the Taipei-Ontario route with new Airbus A350-900 aircraft.
STARLUX's Airbus 350-900s feature 306 seats, spread across four cabins: four First Class suites, 26 Business Class pods, 36 Premium Economy recliners and 240 Economy seats. The cabins feature earth-toned interiors and curated in-cabin aromatherapy for the long flight. STARLUX A350s also feature Collins Aerospace's new Elements suite (designed in partnership with BMW Designworks), a product that builds on its popular predecessors to raise the bar for business-class seating.
Economy class seating on a STARLUX A350-900 aircraft.
STARLUX describes its cuisine as 'Michelin-rated meals.' The dining option on the planes include Taiwanese signature dishes, and all passengers can pre-order their food online so they can get the meal they want.
STARLUX has codeshare agreements with Alaska Airlines, providing connections between STARLUX's international flights and Alaska Airlines' domestic flights. The codeshare partnership with Alaska Airlines extends to eight U.S. cities, including Salt Lake City, Portland, Las Vegas, Denver, Dallas, Austin, Phoenix, and San Diego. Since April 2023, STARLUX and Alaska have cooperated in a loyalty program where Alaska's Mileage Plan members can earn and redeem miles on STARLUX flights. STARLUX COSMILE members will be able to do the same on Alaska flights.
STARLUX Airlines has also launched a codeshare partnership with Etihad Airways. This agreement allows STARLUX passengers to book codeshare flights with Etihad Airways, enabling seamless connections from Taipei to Europe through Abu Dhabi.
Promotional graphic promoting STARLUX flights to Asia from Ontario Airport in Southern California.
Under this partnership, STARLUX passengers will soon be able to book codeshare flights with Etihad Airways, via STARLUX's website and sales channels, enabling simple connections from Taipei to Europe through Abu Dhabi. Travelers can also book itineraries departing from any STARLUX origin point, connecting to Etihad-operated codeshare flights to Abu Dhabi, with onward service to European destinations such as Prague, Madrid, and Barcelona. Etihad passengers will get streamlined access to STARLUX's Asia-Pacific network with connections via Taipei to key cities in Japan, such as Nagoya, Sapporo, and Fukuoka.
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