StarLux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, took delivery Saturday of its first wide-body aircraft, the Airbus A330neo, and is expected to put the plane into commercial service starting in May.
StarLux, founded by former EVA Airways Chairman Chang Kuo-wei (???), said on Facebook that the new plane arrived in Taoyuan International Airport at 5:17 p.m., 14 hours after departing from Toulouse, France, on Friday evening.
Optimistic that the global airline business will improve in 2022 as many economies ease their border controls, StarLux said the A330neo will be initially put on regional routes connecting Taiwan with Macau, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Bangkok and Tokyo.
Under the agreement to lease a total of eight of the A330neos, StarLux will take delivery of an additional three A330neos this year.
The carrier has been operating a fleet of leased single-aisle Airbus A321neos, the sixth of which arrived in Taiwan on Jan. 2, since first taking to the air on Jan. 23, 2020.
Earlier this week, Chang said getting the new wide-body aircraft from Airbus means the carrier’s pilots will be able to move easily between its twin-aisle and single-aisle planes, and it will have more flexibility when arranging flights in the region.
According to StarLux, the new A330neo has 297 seats, including 28 business class seats, and BMW Designworks was responsible for the cabin design.
StarLux said it is also expected to take delivery of Airbus A350 XWBs starting in the second half of this year, which will be used for the airline’s long-haul flights.
On Thursday, StarLux started service between Taipei and Fukuoka in Japan, with one flight per week scheduled initially. Fukuoka is Starlux’s third Japanese destination after Tokyo and Osaka.
The carrier currently operates flights from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport to destinations, including Macau, Penang, Bangkok, Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel