Latest news with #Starlux
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
New premium flights launched between Taipei and Inland Empire
Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines has launched nonstop service between Taipei and Ontario International Airport, its fourth destination in the United States and second in Southern California. The inaugural flight landed Friday at Ontario at 5:05 p.m. and was greeted with a water cannon salute. The route is part of the airline's continued U.S. expansion, following launches in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle. 'This new route is an important milestone for STARLUX,' said Walter Liang, chief passenger commercial officer. '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.' Liang said the route gives travelers 14 flights weekly across two airports in Southern California. The greater Los Angeles area is home to more than 2.5 million Asian Americans, including large Taiwanese, Filipino, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean populations, company officials said. Starlux hopes the new service will provide greater access to its network of more than two dozen destinations in Asia. The airline will operate Airbus A350-900 aircraft on the route four times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. One flight that will depart Ontario around 11 p.m. will arrive in Taipei around 4:15 a.m., two days later due to time change. Some return flights will depart in the evening from Taipei and arrive in Ontario the same day, but hours earlier than the departure, at least according to local time. During the inaugural landing, the gate-side launch ceremony included remarks by Ontario airport CEO Atif Elkadi and the director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, as well as officials from Starlux and Alaska Airlines. Starlux promotes its international service as a premium experience, offering four cabin classes and amenities such as Michelin-rated meals, aromatherapy and custom seating. 'With our new service to Ontario, we continue to redefine luxury air travel,' Liang said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starlux Sees Trump's Tariffs Undermining Travel Demand to US
(Bloomberg) -- Travelers are delaying trips to the US to the end of the year as a direct consequence of the economic uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump's tariffs, according to Starlux Airlines Co. Where the Wild Children's Museums Are Billionaire Steve Cohen Wants NY to Expand Taxpayer-Backed Ferry The Economic Benefits of Paying Workers to Move At London's New Design Museum, Visitors Get Hands-On Access LA City Council Passes Budget That Trims Police, Fire Spending 'This summer, we see the impact already,' said the airline's chief executive officer Glenn Chai in an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday. 'People are feeling uncertain about future economic growth. They are still booking but they postpone to the fourth quarter,' he added, referring to leisure bookings. The high-end start-up carrier says the disruption to business is a headwind but one that is likely to only be felt short-term as it bets the global dispute over duties will be resolved ahead of next year's US mid-term elections. The evolving trade situation only adds to the challenges for the aviation industry emanating from Trump's White House. Additional difficulties include the administration's attacks on Harvard University, which have since broadened out to imposing restrictions on international students. Nevertheless, the Taipei-based airline, which launched amid the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has grown rapidly. All of its long-haul flights are to America, which remains a key market, helping the carrier develop a broader appeal to customers including transit travelers. On average, 70% of Starlux's flights in business class are via cash bookings, fueled by the strong flow of corporate travel largely underpinned by the semiconductor and broader technology industry, said Chai, speaking at the International Air Transport Association's annual meeting in New Delhi. With long-haul flights from Taipei to Los Angeles, Seattle and San Francisco already, the carrier launched its fourth US route to Ontario, California this week. It is planning to start flights to Phoenix early next year to meet the increased travel demand created by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s more than $165 billion investment in Arizona. The next phase of expansion will include an inaugural flight to Europe next year, and at least two more US destinations, with New York and other East Coast routes under consideration. However, getting the necessary new aircraft on-time remains a challenge for the entire aviation industry. Delivery Delays The Taiwanese carrier is being forced to dial back its growth expectations this year with Airbus advising it will deliver fewer aircraft to them than promised, and delays on the remaining jets it will produce. Starlux, which has a fleet of 28 all-Airbus aircraft with new-generation fuel-efficient engines, had planned to grow its capacity by as much as 50% by year end compared to 2024, but that is more likely to be closer to 20% to 30%, said Chai. Chai said it has three more aircraft to be delivered this year, an A350-1000 and two A330neos joining two A350-900s already delivered, four widebodies short of what it had initially planned to receive. Starlux expects delivery of a dozen Airbus jets in 2026. YouTube Is Swallowing TV Whole, and It's Coming for the Sitcom Millions of Americans Are Obsessed With This Japanese Barbecue Sauce Mark Zuckerberg Loves MAGA Now. Will MAGA Ever Love Him Back? Trump Considers Deporting Migrants to Rwanda After the UK Decides Not To Will Small Business Owners Knock Down Trump's Mighty Tariffs? ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Starlux: Taiwanese airline company plans to launch non-stop Phoenix-Taipei flights
The Brief Taiwan's Starlux Airlines intends to operate non-stop flights from Phoenix to Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan. The route is scheduled to be launched in early 2026, pending government approval. This marks the first time there have been direct flights between Sky Harbor and Asia since the early 1990s. PHOENIX - Officials with the City of Phoenix announced that an airline company could soon offer flights between Sky Harbor and Asia. What we know Per a statement released on May 20, Starlux Airlines intends to begin non-stop flights between Sky Harbor and Taoyuan Airport. According to Starlux's website, plans to launch the company were announced in 2016, and the company received its air operator certificate and air route certificate from Taiwan's Civil Aviation Administration in December 2019. The company flew its inaugural flights in January 2020. Per a statement Starlux released on Feb. 11, 2025, the airline has routes from Asia to Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle, with a route to Ontario, Calif. scheduled to launch on June 2. What's next "The service, pending final government approvals, would begin early next year, with three to four flights a week," read a portion of the statement released by the City of Phoenix. "Service will initially begin with an A350-900 aircraft that has 306 seats. Tickets will go on sale once government approval is formalized." Dig deeper Taoyuan Airport is located in Taipei, which is the capital city of Taiwan. The Asian country is also known as the Republic of China. According to an unrelated Associated Press report published on April 18, Taiwan is a self-governed island with a democratic form of government, despite claims by the People's Republic of China that Taiwan is its territory, to be retaken by force if necessary. The backstory While city officials are calling this the "first nonstop air service to Asia for Phoenix and Arizona," this is not the first time there have been services between Phoenix and Asia. According to a brief statement from Sky Harbor Airport, America West Alines used to operate non-stop flights between Phoenix and Honolulu, and between Honolulu and Nagoya, Japan. Per a post the airport made on its X account in 2024, the routes were discontinued in the 1990s. America West would merge with US Airways in 2005, and US Airways would go on to merge with American Airlines in 2013. Dig deeper Per Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport's website, nonstop service is currently offered to dozens of destinations outside the United States. They include: Calgary, Canada Cancún, Mexico Culiacán, Mexico Edmonton, Canada Guadalajara, Mexico Hermosillo, Mexico Kelowna, Canada London (Heathrow Airport), United Kingdom Loreto, Mexico Manzanillo, Mexico Mazatlán, Mexico Mexico City, Mexico Monterrey, Mexico Montreal, Canada Paris (Charles de Gaulle Airport), France Puerto Vallarta, Mexico Regina, Canada San José del Cabo, Mexico Saskatoon, Canada Tijuana, Mexico Toronto, Canada Vancouver, Canada, Winnipeg, Canada Zijuatanejo/Ixtapa, Mexico
Skift
17-05-2025
- Business
- Skift
First Class Is Back and Bigger than Ever — But Sometimes in Disguise
First class isn't dead — it's just evolving. As airlines chase high-margin passengers, luxe cabins are back, but often rebranded or reimagined as 'business plus' instead. Coming as it usually does around Easter, the Aircraft Interiors Expo has a funny habit of resurrecting aspects of the inflight experience that were supposedly dead. Think proper meals in economy, seatback inflight entertainment screens, and now first class. It turns out that the increasingly luxurious business class seats and suites are not enough for airlines with a high-end customer profile segment. Some passengers want even more than that. Notably, the future of first class is not just aboard the government-backed airlines with unlimited money. Airlines that actually need to make a profit, such as Air France, British Airways, Japan Airlines, Lufthansa, and Swiss all have new first-class cabins. These are an entirely separate product from their business class seats. An Emerging Hybrid Offering There's also the 'business-first' category, where extra space in the front row of business class cabins is generated thanks to the absence of a seat in front. Taiwanese full-service carrier Starlux sells this as an actual first class, while Virgin Atlantic's Retreat Suite and Lufthansa's Allegris Business Suite are sold as a premium ancillary option. Full first class seats are now entirely customized for airlines. For example, Stelia for Air France's new chair-and-chaise-longue, Collins for BA's new A380 first class, and Lufthansa Group's FICE (Future Inter-Continental Experience) better known as Lufthansa's Allegris and Swiss Senses respectively. Seatmakers often work with aviation design studios like Tangerine or JPA to combine style with regulatory know-how. These agencies have the aesthetic sensibility to make the space look luxurious as well as the aviation experience to design products and source materials that the seatmaker can produce and certify on time – or at least that's the idea. Airbus is also reorganizing the front of the A350 to enable a more premium layout. The European manufacturer is adding a special first class overhead feature light, moving the crew rest access, and offering a larger first class lavatory/changing room option. Here, like other A350 first classes, the company is exploring a double suite in the middle section of the aircraft. An overview of a new first class seating concept from Airbus. Credit: Airbus Older Planes; Fresh First Class Cabins Historically, new first class cabins were generally introduced on brand-new aircraft, but the end of A380 production, fleet changes as the result of the pandemic, and the delay of the 777X has changed things. These factors – plus a few more – mean that the A350 and 777-300ER are the new flagships for first, but new cabins are being installed retrospectively, or 'retrofitted' in industry parlance. Lufthansa's Allegris first-class product was not ready for its initial set of Allegris-equipped A350s, necessitating post-delivery (and indeed post-entry into service) retrofit. British Airways' new first class – its biggest change in the category since introducing first class flatbeds in 1995 – will be delivered on retrofitted A380s. Some of the previous generation flagship products from the A380 may not even be installable on single-deck aircraft. For example, the single-aisle upper deck designs found on Etihad and Singapore Airlines seem likely to meet renewed regulatory focus when it comes to emergency egress and exit, already a stumbling block with recent seats. Key opportunities seem to focus on the front row, business-plus market, and making lemonade from the lemons of front-row monument tessellation. Thompson Aero Seating has long pushed its ability to create a semi-cabin product as 'first class for free', with most other seatmakers now offering something similar. While airlines have largely implemented this as a business-plus model via ancillary pricing rather than as a first class cabin, it seems clear that there is a real opportunity for a seatmaker to make use of every single inch of that all-important front-row real estate. Read more of John Walton's passenger experience insights for Skift here. What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies. The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. Read the full methodology behind the Skift Travel 200.
