StarLux Airlines Co., the newest international carrier in Taiwan, announced on Saturday that it would launch direct flights to Los Angeles, its first destination outside of Asia.
Starting from April 26, a round-trip flight will be offered every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from Taipei to Los Angeles, said StarLux Airlines, which currently operates flights to Japan, Vietnam, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines.
The Taipei-Los Angeles service will be available every day of the week starting from June, it added.
Tickets for the new Los Angeles route will go on sale in Taiwan and the United States at the same time from the afternoon of Feb. 14, StarLux Airlines said.
The airline said it would assign an Airbus A350-900 to serve the new route.
StarLux Airlines took delivery of its second A350-900 plane in early January after the first one arrived in Taiwan in October 2022 for future long-haul services. The carrier said it expected to receive its third A350-900 soon.
The new A350-900s delivered to Starlux Airlines feature a cabin that is four inches wider and 35 inches longer than the A350s currently in service, providing more room for passengers in all classes and larger galleys for the cabin crew, according to Starlux Airlines.
Cabins can also be customized with ambient lighting depending on the stage of the flight, which will enable the aircraft to provide more comfort to passengers on long-haul flights, the carrier said.
StarLux Airlines said it would launch another new long-haul route between Taipei and San Francisco by the end of this year, and is planning to fly to the eastern U.S. in the future.
As of February, StarLux Airlines' fleet comprises 13 A321neos, four A330neos and two A350-900s.
With eased border controls amid COVID-19, StarLux Airlines has seen its revenue growing sharply.
In January, StarLux Airlines posted NT$1.523 billion (US$50.54 million) in sales, up 58 percent from a month earlier. The January revenue even jumped by 1,295 percent from a year earlier.
In addition to the reduced border restrictions, the carrier said the January sales spike also reflected strong demand during the Lunar New Year holiday, which ran from Jan. 20-29.
Revenue generated from its passenger flights totaled NT$1.4 billion, up 71 percent from a month earlier and also up by 2,407 percent from a year earlier, with revenue from cargo services reaching NT$86 million, up 154 percent from a year earlier, StarLux Airlines said.