Former chairman of EVA Airways Corp Chang Kuo-wei is moving closer to getting his new airline Starlux off the ground after saying last week that the carrier could start recruiting in September and disclosing the airline's new logo.

StarLux will be the new hope of Taiwan's aviation industry, adding that it will be a first-tier international carrier.

Chang said he might introduce Airbus A321s, as well as choose Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s and longer-haul A350-1000s or Boeing 777Xs.

StarLux, which will be headquartered in downtown Taipei, will also have its own maintenance department, he said.



http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003674298
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201707100006.aspx

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For background Chang Kuo-wei is a 777 pilot who occasionally operated EVA line flights, so he might have a natural bias for the type.

Not sure Taiwan really needs another long haul carrier but good luck.

Maybe low cost model like Scoot may work.

I don't think another low cost airline will work in Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan is struggling, V Air struggled during its existence, partially responsible for dragging TransAsia Airways into oblivion. Far Eastern Air Transport is coming up with ATR services to complement MD-80 series services, their B737NG plan was scrapped due to disagreement with ALC.

That being said, Mr Chang is launching the new carrier to seek "revenge" against his siblings and management at BR who ousted him from chairmanship while piloting a flight to oversea. Removed forcefully as said by media. The airline he proposed has been in media for sometimes, gathered more traction after TransAsia's dismissal. He have stated he may consider recruiting those ex-TransAsia staff. Btw, he has good business acumen too. Major improvement and awards that Eva Air has been achieving over the past few years are due to he and his team work.

Interesting time ahead for Taiwan aviation.

"Starlux" has a cheesy ring to it. Couldn't he have found a better name?

Note that the network strategy is long-haul, vs. intra-TW and CN coastal flights. If he could base it at TSA rather than TPE, and focus medium haul to JP and KR, and long haul to hub cities in US and EU, it would certainly poach traffic from CI and BR. So, assuming Mr. Chang has the financing, the real issue is political... rights at TSA... and the LCY nature of TSA, landing 777s in a fishbowl.

TSA runway not long enough for long haul 777 flights to North America or Europe so those will need to depart from TPE.

For the time being, Starlux is probably going to be limited to regional Asia flights to countries that have open sky agreements with Taiwan (e.g. Japan). And eventually the US (again, open sky). China and Europe won't be possible for a number of years until some of the routes are up for re-allocation by the Taiwan Govt. So makes sense it will start with A321 (probably leased) and place orders for 787 or A350 for delivery in a few years.

WPvsMW wrote:

Note that the network strategy is long-haul, vs. intra-TW and CN coastal flights. If he could base it at TSA rather than TPE, and focus medium haul to JP and KR, and long haul to hub cities in US and EU, it would certainly poach traffic from CI and BR. So, assuming Mr. Chang has the financing, the real issue is political... rights at TSA... and the LCY nature of TSA, landing 777s in a fishbowl.

777 cannot do longhaul out of TSA and the landing rights are restricted(Only certain destinations are authorized). It is going to be very hard for him to run a viable business.

One minor problem
Although Chang has registered his new airline with the Ministry of Economic Affairs, he has yet to file an application to be a carrier with the CAA.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003674297

juliuswong wrote:

I don't think another low cost airline will work in Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan is struggling, V Air struggled during its existence, partially responsible for dragging TransAsia Airways into oblivion. Far Eastern Air Transport is coming up with ATR services to complement MD-80 series services, their B737NG plan was scrapped due to disagreement with ALC.

That being said, Mr Chang is launching the new carrier to seek "revenge" against his siblings and management at BR who ousted him from chairmanship while piloting a flight to oversea. Removed forcefully as said by media. The airline he proposed has been in media for sometimes, gathered more traction after TransAsia's dismissal. He have stated he may consider recruiting those ex-TransAsia staff. Btw, he has good business acumen too. Major improvement and awards that Eva Air has been achieving over the past few years are due to he and his team work.

Interesting time ahead for Taiwan aviation.

IT seems to be doing pretty well recently as their load factor was quite good and became profitable for the first quarter.
http://news.ltn.com.tw/news/business/br ... ws/2126657
Taiwan is not a big country yet crowded with many foreign operator having fifth freedom flight, so it is not easy to have another "Premium carrier"

A bit more news coming out.

Chang says the airline will “convey a sense of luxury”. Additionally, it will also operate a MRO division.

One issue to overcome is Taiwan's current regulations, that backers of new start up airline must have been in the international transportation or trading sector for at least five years and must have generated revenue of over NT$6 billion (US$196 million) per annum.
Though, its expected that Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Authority will loosen the rules in the case of StarLux. Dubbed “the Chang Kuo-wei exemption” in local media, the regulator is likely to approve an AOC for StarLux, given Chang has significant personal wealth and well-respected experience in running a global airline.

Chang Kuo-wei to launch StarLux Airlines
http://www.orientaviation.com/articles/ ... x-airlines

I think Chang really under-estimated the politics and the 'red pocket' involve to set up a new operator in Taiwan. Once it entered the scene, what routes would they fly? They certainly would not get Hong Kong as current agreement have not expand in terms of frequencies, Macau, maybe, since both Transasia and FAT left, but this one only carries the casino traffic, what about China, which route they have chance to win right to operate? All the good ones are already taken, Japan/Korea/SE Asia, you have to fight with the LCC, you won't get the TSA slots, those are already sealed to the Big 2, Tokyo/Seoul, you have to fight the big boys to/from their respective hub, BKK/SIN, you have low cost like Scoot or high quality operator like SQ to fight, don't overestimate the yield ex Taiwan, Taiwan are not financial hub like Hong Kong/Singapore

More details coming out.

o Air carrier certification application to CAA planned by end of the year
o First flight 2019
o Business plan calls for fleet of 24 aircraft employing about 3,500 for the first 6-years.
o Plan A321 regional routes and A350/787/777 for longhaul
o Initial routes - Southeast and Northeast Asia in first year (BKK, SIN, KUL, HKG, MFM, Japan) and by second year, longhaul to US West Coast.




http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003676463
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201708120007.aspx

Good thing he went for a combo of A350/777/787. More aircraft at a faster rate will be helpful in a market that is already crowded. Tbh I think they can make this work. They just need to offer competitive products, like 9-abreast economy on the 777, or a J with suites (unlikely), in order to win over people. Unless they wanna be a connecting airline.

At least in Spain, Starlux has been for a long time a brand of chicken soup, and I think that currently it is used for fried tomato

I doubt EVA are going to be friendly and you know China wont. He wont have the deep pockets the Evergreen group had to prop up EVA when it started and was bleeding money for its first decade.. As BHOP pointed out getting rights to fly to good markets may be an issue. This may be one mans egotism which will make that joke about how do you make a million $ in the airline business, start with 2 million, true.

LAXintl wrote:

More details coming out.

o Air carrier certification application to CAA planned by end of the year
o First flight 2019
o Business plan calls for fleet of 24 aircraft employing about 3,500 for the first 6-years.
o Plan A321 regional routes and A350/787/777 for longhaul
o Initial routes - Southeast and Northeast Asia in first year (BKK, SIN, KUL, HKG, MFM, Japan) and by second year, longhaul to US West Coast.




http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/arc ... 2003676463
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201708120007.aspx

Traffic rights to HKG maybe difficult to realize. Other destinations are pretty much open sky so should be relatively easy to start. But competing with foreign LCC with lower cost basis will be a challenge.

This idea ain't gonna fly. (Pun intended)

I see some demand from those in Taiwan who have been flying CX/KA which used to be a premium airline and now have cut and trimmed on everything that was possible. Also CI is considered by many as unsafe - and possibly for good reason.
EVA has been doing ok but has weird BKK routing since the time Taiwanese airlines weren't allowed to overfly mainland china.

Taiwan regulatory authorities have proposed amending old law that required Taiwanese airlines seeking to fly internationally to be operational 5-years prior.
Decision on law amendment expect at end of this month and would help clear a major regulatory hurdle for Starlux

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Compan ... ine?page=2

Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) approved adjustments to regulations covering start ups.

New airline StarLux soon to be formed after MOTC eased regulations
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201710070009.aspx

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Interesting to note the CEO says:

In a high profile talk, Chang vowed to make StarLux the “Emirates of Taiwan,” hinting that he will emulate the dramatic rise of Dubai’s carrier in the last two decades, which has grown from its humble beginning to become one of the largest airlines in the world.
Like the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan also has a relatively small population and limited domestic demand, especially when comparing to China. Yet similar to Dubai’s story in the Gulf States, Taiwan is strategically located in the center among the rapidly growing economies in Asia, and StarLux could theoretically duplicate Emirates’ success by transforming Taiwan into a connection hub for transcontinental flights.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/taiwan-so ... 28933.html

Big ambitions for sure.

mercure1 wrote:

Interesting to note the CEO says:

In a high profile talk, Chang vowed to make StarLux the “Emirates of Taiwan,” hinting that he will emulate the dramatic rise of Dubai’s carrier in the last two decades, which has grown from its humble beginning to become one of the largest airlines in the world.
Like the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan also has a relatively small population and limited domestic demand, especially when comparing to China. Yet similar to Dubai’s story in the Gulf States, Taiwan is strategically located in the center among the rapidly growing economies in Asia, and StarLux could theoretically duplicate Emirates’ success by transforming Taiwan into a connection hub for transcontinental flights.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/taiwan-so ... 28933.html

Big ambitions for sure.

Guy is clearly psychotic, the international politics surrounding Taiwan will never allow this.

He stands to make more money operating a dozen B77Fs rather than a full service premium pax carrier.

He should seriously consider the freighter business model where demand is guaranteed year round + much less intense competition + more liberal bilaterals + can take advantage of 5th freedom traffic rights.

AFAIK, PRC citizens cannot transit through Taiwan to international destinations - until that policy is changed, I fail to see how Starlux can become anything like Emirates.

That being said, I see potential for a competitor on some routes to and from TPE, particularly given that most western carriers do not serve Taiwan.

For example, there are monopolies from TPE to many major cities like SYD (CI), MEL (CI), LHR (BR), FRA (CI), DEL (CI), ORD (BR) and YYZ (BR).

This seems strange, when a city like AMS can support three carriers to TPE (BR, CI and KL, albeit each with tags), as can YVR (BR, CI and AC). Even BNE and VIE can support both CI and BR.

Cheers,

C.

juliuswong wrote:

I don't think another low cost airline will work in Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan is struggling, V Air struggled during its existence, partially responsible for dragging TransAsia Airways into oblivion. Far Eastern Air Transport is coming up with ATR services to complement MD-80 series services, their B737NG plan was scrapped due to disagreement with ALC.

That being said, Mr Chang is launching the new carrier to seek "revenge" against his siblings and management at BR who ousted him from chairmanship while piloting a flight to oversea. Removed forcefully as said by media. The airline he proposed has been in media for sometimes, gathered more traction after TransAsia's dismissal. He have stated he may consider recruiting those ex-TransAsia staff. Btw, he has good business acumen too. Major improvement and awards that Eva Air has been achieving over the past few years are due to he and his team work.

Interesting time ahead for Taiwan aviation.

V Air itself is profitable, it is TransAsia itself that dragging the whole "TransAsia Group", actually in the final stage of the Group, they had considered to end GE and focus on the V Air but the plan had not been carried out.

In addition, FAT itself is not a LCC as well.

trex8 wrote:

I doubt EVA are going to be friendly and you know China wont. He wont have the deep pockets the Evergreen group had to prop up EVA when it started and was bleeding money for its first decade.. As BHOP pointed out getting rights to fly to good markets may be an issue. This may be one mans egotism which will make that joke about how do you make a million $ in the airline business, start with 2 million, true.

He won't have a problem with money, his father (founder of Evergreen Group) passed away last year which sparked the internal fighting of the entire Evergreen Group. His dad's will is rumoured to have given him about $1.7bn, so he has plenty of money to burn on this 'revenge' airline targeting EVA Air. He thinks he made EVA into a Skytrax 5 star airline so he's unhappy his brothers kicked him out. Their father gave his other three brothers more shares of Evergreen Group than K-boss (people call him that in Taiwan).

Here's the story of what happened:
- Their father passed away Jan last year
- Contents of the Will were rumoured (all of his cash went to K-boss and Chairmanship of Evergreen Group)
- He named himself President of the entire Evergreen Group
- His three older brothers (from a different mother) got angry and ousted him in emergency boardroom meetings
- His brothers then took him down from the EVA Air board of which he was Chairman
- K went quiet for a year or so and announced he's creating Starlux

Another interesting thing is the third brother (K is fourth) is rumoured to want Chairmanship of EVA Air now but their oldest brother is thwarting his efforts as he wants to keep family out of Evergreen Group. The third brother is credited with helping to start EVA Air and went around the world asking for flying rights for the airline. This is all rumours though.

They have website and updated logo/livery

https://www.starlux-airlines.com/



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Cool look forward to seeing this airline.

Of the many global start up concepts this one seems credible and certainly by a person of solid background.

Sophisticated livery. Elegantly understated...yet reflective of a five-star global airline.

Wow, just saw this thread for the first time. As a frequent EVA SFO-TPE flier, I am skeptical. EVA Elite class is the best thing going in the long haul world. I'm doing Laurel class in a couple of weeks -- my first lay-flat experience. I'll send a trip report..

My work sends me to Taoyuan and Tacichung, so Taipei city airport offers me nothing. The biggest flaw I see in all this Taipei-Taoyuan airport. Nothing wrong with it, but not exactly world class.

StarLux will takeoff at the end of 2019 and plans to introduce 14 A321neo aircraft.

http://m.cna.com.tw/news/ahel/201803040088.aspx
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201803040011.aspx

Article also mentions the lease of 10 unknown widebody aircraft.

Beautiful livery. Hopefully, this airline will be successful. If StarLux will join an alliance in the future, could it be Oneworld, as EVA Air is a member of Star Alliance and China Airlines is in SkyTeam? Of course, there are some other alliances such as Value Alliance. But first, operations should be started.

QuawerAir wrote:

Beautiful livery. Hopefully, this airline will be successful. If StarLux will join an alliance in the future, could it be Oneworld, as EVA Air is a member of Star Alliance and China Airlines is in SkyTeam? Of course, there are some other alliances such as Value Alliance. But first, operations should be started.

With a name like StarLux, it would be a dead cert for Star! But of course, EVA is already in Star, so no dice.

Per French media Starlux to lease 10 A321neos for operations starting January 2020.

On widebody front looking at 14 frames with decision due by end of this year.

http://www.air-journal.fr/2018-03-14-ta ... 95832.html

juliuswong wrote:

I don't think another low cost airline will work in Taiwan. Tigerair Taiwan is struggling, V Air struggled during its existence, partially responsible for dragging TransAsia Airways into oblivion. Far Eastern Air Transport is coming up with ATR services to complement MD-80 series services, their B737NG plan was scrapped due to disagreement with ALC.

That being said, Mr Chang is launching the new carrier to seek "revenge" against his siblings and management at BR who ousted him from chairmanship while piloting a flight to oversea. Removed forcefully as said by media. The airline he proposed has been in media for sometimes, gathered more traction after TransAsia's dismissal. He have stated he may consider recruiting those ex-TransAsia staff. Btw, he has good business acumen too. Major improvement and awards that Eva Air has been achieving over the past few years are due to he and his team work.

Interesting time ahead for Taiwan aviation.

A motivation of seeking revenge is not really a recipe for success is it? More like a loss. And I agree, Taiwan doesn't really need another airline full stop. But I am open minded so will keep my eyes and ears open to developments.

Some new news.

On May 2nd received a business certificate which clears way for Taiwan CAA to being certification process.

About to sign leases on 10 A321NEOs - first delivery Q3 2019

Japan "priority" market, along with Southeast Asia markets - Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Bali, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur during the initial phase of the airline’s development.

Still reviewing widebody plans - 787/777 most likely for 2021 service entry for US service initially.

With limited size of Taiwan home market, transit customers will play big part in model.

https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3425137
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aeco/201805080023.aspx

Looks like it will be a nice airline.
Something new for new for me to maybe deadhead on in 2-years.

LAXintl wrote:

Some new news.

On May 2nd received a business certificate which clears way for Taiwan CAA to being certification process.

About to sign leases on 10 A321NEOs - first delivery Q3 2019

Japan "priority" market, along with Southeast Asia markets - Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Bali, Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur during the initial phase of the airline’s development.

Still reviewing widebody plans - 787/777 most likely for 2021 service entry for US service initially.

With limited size of Taiwan home market, transit customers will play big part in model.

So basically all the regional markets where Taiwan has open sky agreements or defacto open sky (caps on frequency or seats that are way above whats being used).

As for widebody order, I will be extremely surprised if it is not a mix of 787 and 777. I'm sure Boeing will make them an unbelievable offer for taking some last of the line 77W if they also opt in for some 787.

On widebodies, I suspect the CEO has a soft spot for the 77W certainly, having been a captain on the type while leading EVA.

On one hand, I do wish "K-boss" is successful.

On the other hand, isn't TW-Japan market already facing a giant overcapacity? Yes, the demand is huge, but not necessarily on the "high end". And not sure how many transit pax they can get without depressing yield.

I've heard IATA is apparently assigning them the carrier code "UV"

UV also belongs to U.S. Part-135 operator Universal Airways.

KW as he is known, is a passionate person who motivated his staff strongly.
He is also the proud son of the late founder of Evergreen Group.
I asked on the FB on the logo and was replied officially by Starlux that the star was a tribute to his late father spirit.
I wish KW all the best. In Taiwan, we do need another choice besides CI and BR. I think the challenges for KW is huge if not daunting but I think he has the will to prevail. I guess we will see how this develops. Glad to see if he choose 787 or 350 for his long haul fleet of choice.

KW as he is known, is a passionate person who motivated his staff strongly.
He is also the proud son of the late founder of Evergreen Group.
I asked on the FB on the logo and was replied officially by Starlux that the star was a tribute to his late father spirit.
I wish KW all the best. In Taiwan, we do need another choice besides CI and BR. I think the challenges for KW is huge if not daunting but I think he has the will to prevail. I guess we will see how this develops. Glad to see if he choose 787 or 350 for his long haul fleet of choice.

bzcat wrote:

TSA runway not long enough for long haul 777 flights to North America or Europe so those will need to depart from TPE.

No they don't. Taiwan has more airports than just those two, so they got plenty of choice. What about Kaohsiung (KHH)? With a 3150 meter runway flights to Europe or America should be no problem. And for a LCC, flying to an alternative airport isn't a problem. In fact, it can be a benefit as the people living in that area got less money to spend and are therefor more likely to fly an LCC. It also saves them the trouble of traveling halfway through the country first to catch a flight.

PatrickZ80 wrote:

bzcat wrote:

TSA runway not long enough for long haul 777 flights to North America or Europe so those will need to depart from TPE.

No they don't. Taiwan has more airports than just those two, so they got plenty of choice. What about Kaohsiung (KHH)? With a 3150 meter runway flights to Europe or America should be no problem. And for a LCC, flying to an alternative airport isn't a problem. In fact, it can be a benefit as the people living in that area got less money to spend and are therefor more likely to fly an LCC. It also saves them the trouble of traveling halfway through the country first to catch a flight.

IIRC CI tried KHH to US west coast years ago, didnt last long. All the other non Taipei cities are not large enough to support many international flights and I doubt lots of Taipei people will be traveling to KHH or anywhere just for a cheaper flight.

Also isn t the TSA issue the taxiways, not the runway per se? Unless the runway got shortened. All those 747s pre 79 used to fly from Shung Shan before Taoyuan/CKK existed.

EVA also tried KHH-LAX and failed.

It's really the same story in country after country. Busan, Cebu, Nagoya, Osaka, Penang, etc where secondary cities struggle to support longhauls.

Anyhow having been to Kaohsiung, I reached it very easily via HSR in all of 90mins.

trex8 wrote:

PatrickZ80 wrote:

bzcat wrote:

TSA runway not long enough for long haul 777 flights to North America or Europe so those will need to depart from TPE.

No they don't. Taiwan has more airports than just those two, so they got plenty of choice. What about Kaohsiung (KHH)? With a 3150 meter runway flights to Europe or America should be no problem. And for a LCC, flying to an alternative airport isn't a problem. In fact, it can be a benefit as the people living in that area got less money to spend and are therefor more likely to fly an LCC. It also saves them the trouble of traveling halfway through the country first to catch a flight.

IIRC CI tried KHH to US west coast years ago, didnt last long. All the other non Taipei cities are not large enough to support many international flights and I doubt lots of Taipei people will be traveling to KHH or anywhere just for a cheaper flight.

Also isn t the TSA issue the taxiways, not the runway per se? Unless the runway got shortened. All those 747s pre 79 used to fly from Shung Shan before Taoyuan/CKK existed.

The main problem for TSA is not runway, taxiway, or anything. It's pure politics. Noise being a big factor (TSA is literally in the middle of the city), along with protectionism (of TPE).

As for KHH - they don't even have that many regional flights, much less long-haul. For example, Greater Taipei (TPE + TSA) has ~30 flights to Greater Tokyo per day, while Kaohsiung only has 4-5 flights/day. And IIRC most people in Kaohsiung for long-haul either use HSR to go up to TPE, or transit in HKG. Kaohsiung is also just not that big of a metro area (~3M, so similar to the like of SAN or STL, compare to Greater Taipei + Taoyuan at ~10M, which is comparable to Chicago), and is much harder to make a hub work there. Pretty much all big business in Taiwan are based around Taipei instead of Kaohsiung, also.

The only expansion I can see in KHH would be LCCs like IT (Tigerair Taiwan), flying from KHH to more destinations in Japan or South Korea or SE Asia.

behramjee wrote:

He stands to make more money operating a dozen B77Fs rather than a full service premium pax carrier.

He should seriously consider the freighter business model where demand is guaranteed year round + much less intense competition + more liberal bilaterals + can take advantage of 5th freedom traffic rights.

He doesn't really like cargo ops. That's why BR ended up with 777F instead of 747-8F.

https://www.reuters.com/article/britain ... SL8N1UB0Q2

thought they were leaning towards Boeing for widebodies but perhaps may be due to the A350-1000 world tour which took a stop at Taipei.
Well anything could happen soo

Anyways, possible to close this deal during the Farnborough Airshow 2018?

junlinwong94 wrote:

https://www.reuters.com/article/britain-airshow-starlux/airbus-near-deal-to-sell-a350s-to-taiwans-starlux-sources-idUSL8N1UB0Q2

thought they were leaning towards Boeing for widebodies but perhaps may be due to the A350-1000 world tour which took a stop at Taipei.
Well anything could happen soo

Anyways, possible to close this deal during the Farnborough Airshow 2018?

Seems like they were set on an Airbus narrowbody so makes sense to get an A350. The -1000 visiting TPE earlier this year was probably more show for BR. Also CI exec on the London route launch last Dec was saying very favorable things about the -1000.