So far, 2024 has been full of excitement and commotion regarding airline alliances. Most notably SAS has exited the Star Alliance to move over to SkyTeam, also Fiji Airways has become a full oneWorld member. And now, keeping our focus on oneWorld, there is a new joiner on the horizon. Starlux Airlines is, according to multiple reports, ready to apply for oneWorld membership.
A New Member For oneWorld Coming Soon With Starlux?
For those not familiar with the latest entries on the aviation market, Starlux Airlines is a Taiwan based airline. The carrier has placed itself on the market as a premium travel option in southeast Asia and particularly on long-haul sectors to the US. There have been many extremely positive reviews regarding Starlux and after having found its footing the carrier is looking to link with an alliance.
Specifically, the airline is looking to apply for membership in the oneWorld alliance. More on why that was a forced choice later in the post. These are still initial reports linking the Taiwanese airline to the alliance and therefore, it won’t come to fruition anytime soon.
If the application does come through and it is successfully accepted by the alliance’s stakeholders, then, we might see Starlux Airlines enter oneWorld in late 2025 or early 2026. That though is my personal estimate, so don’t rely on it too much.
With Starlux oneWorld would increase its full members to 14 airlines, with the Taiwanese carrier becoming the fifth Asian carrier joining:
- JAL
- Malaysia Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
- Cathay Pacific
Why Starlux Airlines Doesn’t Really Have an Alliance Choice
Starlux doesn’t really have an option in terms of which alliance to join. The reason behind that statement of mine is quite simple. The carrier is the third full-service airline to start operations in Taiwan, following:
- China Airlines
- EVA Air
Those two carriers are already part of two alliances, respectively:
- SkyTeam
- Star Alliance
Therefore, intuitively Starlux Airlines can only apply for the remaining alliance which doesn’t have a Taiwanese airline in it. That alliance is, you guessed it, oneWorld.
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