Starlux Airlines on Aug. 1 plans to launch direct flights between Taipei and Prague, its first destination in Europe, the Vaclav Havel Airport Prague said yesterday.
Starlux Airlines would initially provide three round-trip flights between the two cities every week, the airport said in a statement on its Web site.
The flights are scheduled to depart from Prague every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, it said.
Photo courtesy of Starlux Airlines
From October, the number of the weekly flights would increase to four, the airport said.
Jiri Pos, chairman of the Vaclav Havel Airport Prague board of directors, said in the statement that he was pleased with the new route and believed that the regular flight services would “contribute to the further development of tourism between the Czech Republic and Taiwan.”
The new route could be patronized by more than 95,000 passengers during the first year of operations, the airport’s estimates showed.
Starlux Airlines would use the wide-body Airbus A350-900 with 306 seats to serve the new long-haul route, featuring four classes — first class, business class, premium economy class and economy class, the airport said.
“Prague is a long-favored destination for Taiwanese travelers, and growing semiconductor industry ties are expected to further drive demand between Taiwan and the Czech Republic,” Starlux Airlines CEO Glenn Chai (翟健華) was quoted as saying in the statement.
“With Taiwan serving as a convenient hub in Asia, our extensive Asian network will provide seamless connections to major cities across the region, while our all next- generation Airbus fleet delivers a premium, five-senses travel experience,” Chai said.
Echoing Chai, the airport said that passengers who use the new route would be able to take advantage of Starlux Airlines’ network of onward flights to destinations across Asia, such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore and Hong Kong, among others.
Starlux Airlines would take delivery of 14 new aircraft this year to boost its fleet to 43, while intensifying its efforts to expand its global flight network, including two new destinations in Europe, Chai has said.
In early January, the airline took delivery of Taiwan’s first wide-body A300-1000. Five more of the 18 A350-1000s Starlux has on order are expected to be delivered this year.
China Airlines was the first Taiwanese international carrier to launch direct flight services to Prague in 2023.
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