Taiwan's Starlux Airlines orders 5 Airbus A350 freighters, 3 A330neos (updated)

EVA Airways

21/02/2024 08:53

(Adds order details throughout)
    By Lisa Barrington
       SINGAPORE, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Starlux Airlines
 2646.TWO  has placed an order for five Airbus  AIR.PA  A350
freighters and three A330neo widebody passenger jets, its chief
executive said on Wednesday.
    Starlux CEO Glenn Chai announced the order on the sidelines
of the Singapore Airshow, adding that the company would also
take the option to order five more freighters. 
    The A330neos will be delivered in 2025-2026, followed by the
freighters, said Benoit de Saint-Exupery, the senior vice
president of sales at Airbus' commercial aircraft business.
    Starlux, the island's newest full-service airline, launched
its first flights in 2020 and serves destinations including
Tokyo, Bangkok, Hanoi, Singapore, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
    Flights to Seattle will start in the middle of this year,
Chai said, saying Starlux wants to become a transit airline for
passengers from Southeast Asia to North America. 
    Taiwan is an important cargo hub, especially for goods from
South Asia to North America, Chai said. 
     The all-Airbus operator competes against the island's
long-established carriers China Airlines  2610.TW  and Eva
Airways  2618.TW , which are expanding and updating their own
fleets with Boeing's  BA.N  rival 787s.
    Airbus' A350 freighters are set to come into service in
2026, bringing as much as a 40% reduction in fuel consumption
and carbon emissions compared with previous-generation Boeing
747 freighters, the French planemaker says. 
        Airbus has about 50 orders for the A350 freighter, it
said. 
  

 (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Writing by Jamie Freed. Editing
by Gerry Doyle)
 ((Jamie.Freed@thomsonreuters.com;))