STARLUX Wants To Join oneworld Alliance

STARLUX, a Taiwanese luxury carrier, has expressed ambitions to eventually join the oneworld alliance, which would be a big move for the airline.

The airline’s chairman, Chang Kuo-wei, confirmed its plans at a shareholder meeting, which, if proceeded with, would become another airline in Taiwan to join an alliance.

EVA Air is already a member of the Star Alliance, and STARLUX looks to compete with this airline quite considerably in terms of routes.

Meanwhile, STARLUX competes with major U.S. carriers, such as United Airlines, also part of the Star Alliance.

Moreover, there are also considerations, such as Delta, which is part of Skyteam in a similar fashion to China Airlines. Flights from Asia to the West Coast are hotly contested, and STARLUX joining oneworld could see greater long-term benefits regarding connectivity and stability.

STARLUX, however, will do its due diligence before joining oneworld and assessing all available options. Despite this due diligence, oneworld appears to be the favourite and most likely to formulate into something firm.

When considering that STARLUX is already in collaboration with oneworld member Alaska Airlines for connectivity cooperation across North America, enhancing this seems logical through a oneworld membership with more options becoming available, too.

The airline said it had begun discussions with several alliances at the recently concluded IATA Annual General Meeting. These meetings provide fantastic platforms for airlines and other aviation companies to discuss prospective partnerships, industry developments and more.

Over the next year or two, STARLUX will pursue its plans to enter an alliance formally. The company sees many benefits to such a move.

The China Times reported that while the Chairman leads from the front in joining an alliance, the matter has been considerably discussed internally. Furthermore, those internal discussions have produced nothing but positive results.

oneworld recently formally added Fiji Airways to its expansive network of carriers and could see STARLUX as the perfect means to enhance connectivity across Asia, focusing on services across North America and the West Coast.

No decision or action is expected in the short term, and much is left to ponder and consider before anything firm is done.