StarLux Airlines may just be another start-up doomed to fail, but it is certainly an intriguing one.
A group of investors in Taiwan, led by Chang Kuo-wei, has taken substantial steps to create a new luxury airline. Chang’s father founded the Evergreen Group, which includes EVA Air, so he does have an institutional advantage from the start.
Forbes reports StarLux will begin flying in 2020 “with aircraft that are fully fitted for luxury travel.” While the new airline is still waiting for an operator certificate from Taiwan’s Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA), it has agreed to acquire 27 airplanes from Airbus and received an operating permit from the Ministry of Transportation. These aircraft include 10 leased A321neos and 17 purchased A350s.
What kind of seating onboard? We don’t know. What kind of service onboard? We don’t know. A spokesman said:
We are committed to applying an exquisite design to the cabin to bring our customers the utmost comfort and feel the hospitality from the moment they step into our cabin.
That doesn’t help much…
It appears the airline hopes to cater to luxury travelers and offer all passengers 100% on-demand service onboard. That’s an interesting concept, though tough to pull off on an A350.
StarLux hopes to serve 20 destinations in Asia and North America by 2024. Japan has been singled out as a key destination along with the U.S. West Coast.
In short, there is still much to learn about this new airline.
But keep StarLux on your radar. At least this start-up has the money behind it to (potentially) get it off the ground. You can check the airline’s website here. The home page looks like the start of a DreamWorks movie.
Polaris Copycat
After United Airlines spent so much time and money developing its Polaris brand, I find it interesting that StarLux is also using “Polaris” in its branding. Of course Polaris is just the North Star and you could argue that United ripped it from EVA in the first place. Still, this is going to ruffle some feathers in the United legal department…
A Grudge?
After the death of his father, Chang was forced out at EVA. This whole exercise could be revenge against the Board who forced him out.
In a press conference announcing the new airline, Chang added he will compete with EVA on passenger and cargo traffic and that his main competition would be Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and China Airlines (in addition to EVA). Not coincidentally, those are the top four carriers in the region.
I do wonder whether all of this is a game just to prove himself.
CONCLUSION
I’m actually betting this airline will lift off the ground. But the market is highly competitive and StarLux will need more than on-demand service onboard to survive.
While it’s not definite doomed to fail, the entire plan lacks creativity and clarity. Taiwan is already heavily saturated with CI and BR flying to most major US cities. CX also has a foothold there on the Japan and Korean routes. With the 3 major alliances represented there, I’m surprised if they manage to fill 50% of their flights to the destinations they are proposing.
If Chang was pushed out of EVA, does he still have strong allies elsewhere in the Evergreen Group?
Good question.
FYI, Chang Kuo-wei was the designated heir apparent to the Evergreen Corporate Empire before his older brother (from a different mother) out maneuvered him politically and took over EVA. Chang, a licensed commercial airline pilot, was credits for building EVA Airways from the ground up. The highly respected EVA Airway reputation was all Mr. Chang’s achievement.
Rather than fighting in the Evergreen corporate board, Chang decided to take his portion of holding in Evergreen (estimated $6 billion dollar USD personal fortune) and permanently separate from his brother and his allies. He brought with EVA executives loyal to him and start the StarLux airway.
StarLux is highly anticipated in Taiwan. It plans to differentiate itself from CI and BR as a premium airline to compete with the likes of Singpore Airline in the luxury segment. The many fan’s of EVA Airway and of Mr. Chang will likely give StarLux a serious look once it begins operation.
Seems there will have A350’s which are on order? Photo looks like 777 ?
This was the stock photo they provided, but you are correct.