Despite Taiwan being a rather small country, both in size and in population, it has three major airlines operating at its main airport. Competition is fierce, and Starlux Airlines knows that better than anyone else. They know that to continue the growth path: they have to be aggressive, and this move of announcing flights to Sydney in 2027 is a bold move. Here’s why.
In this post:
- Starlux Airlines announces Sydney with no schedule yet in sight
- Why Pairing the Fifth Freedom Trans-Tasman Flight is Key
- Banking on promised flights to Europe, but will they deliver?
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Starlux Airlines announces Sydney flights with no schedule yet in sight
Somehow, the move of announcing flights to Sydney feels more of a corporate announcement towards investors than something that should interest passengers at this time.
I say that because the announcement comes from Sydney International Airport, but it doesn’t contain any specifics about the flight other than the fact that Starlux Airlines is going to start flying to SYD in 2027 with a fifth freedom operation onwards to Auckland, New Zealand.
No timings, no flight time, and no specifics about the aircraft the airline will be using.
That’s why it feels more of a message towards investors and less so towards passengers. It is telling the airline’s backers that ambitions are still there and the airline plans to grow aggressively, as it has been doing since its launch in 2020.
All that Australian passengers can make of this is: to consider that they might have another option, come 2027, to fly to Asia, North America, and hopefully Europe.
Why Pairing the Fifth Freedom Trans-Tasman Flight is Key
Starlux Airlines has to maximize what it can extract out of operating a wide-body aircraft on this operation.
The best way to increase load factors is to pair Sydney with another high-demand city, such as Auckland.
Starlux Airlines will be faced with fierce competition, and it doesn’t have any brand recognition whatsoever in Australia and New Zealand.
Attracting passengers will be key at the beginning, and probably in the first stages it’ll be difficult to get a decent load factor operating flights only to Sydney. That’s why adding Auckland into the same trip is key.
Additionally, that fifth freedom flight will allow passengers to book themselves on Auckland to Sydney flights and get a taste of Starlux Airlines and then maybe book a long-haul sector on another occasion.
In this last regard, it’s more of a branding effort than an immediate impact one
Banking on promised flights to Europe, but will they deliver?
Earlier in the post, I mentioned that Sydney and Australian passengers will have a new option come 2027 to fly from Australia to North America and maybe Europe.
I say maybe Europe because Starlux Airlines has announced that it will be starting up flights to Barcelona and Zurich in Europe, but specifics are lacking even there.
Therefore, the airline is promising a lot but without routes to Europe the airline’s strategy of branching out into Australia will only have one leg to stand on with flights to North America.
Getting those flights to Europe and having more of them is key for Starlux to become a viable option for Australians to travel abroad, as many fly regularly to Europe for holidays and visiting friends and family.
Now will the airline deliver on those promises? Probably Barcelona and Zurich will come online in time. However, serving only Barcelona and Zurich is a little bit underwhelming, considering what the airline’s main competitors (China Airlines also from Sydney and EVA Air from Brisbane) can offer Australian passengers with flights to many more destinations in Europe.