Shares of StarLux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, will start trading on the emerging market Friday, and the company has set a goal of turning a profit by next year, its CEO Glenn Chai (翟健華) said Wednesday.
StarLux is upbeat about its economic prospects, as global air passenger traffic is on the rise and had reached 70 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels as of June, Chai said at a press conference ahead of company’s debut on the Emerging Stock Board.
Going into the fourth quarter, the number of StarLux flights will increase by almost 100 percent, and the airline’s passenger capacity is expected to double by the end of the year, as it continues to expand its fleet, he said.
By year end, StarLux will have a fleet of 19 aircraft — 13 Airbus A321neo, four Airbus A330neo and two Airbus A350, according to Chai.
The carrier is scheduled to take delivery of its first A350 in October and launch new Asian routes in the first quarter of 2023, he said.
The A350s will be used on StarLux’s flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco in the United States, which will be launched in April next year and in the second half of 2023, respectively, when the airline starts its operations on the North American route, Chai said.
StarLux is also eyeing the transit market in North America, as well as in Southeast Asia, he said.
In addition, the carrier plans to acquire small freight aircraft to provide cargo services, amid expected soaring demand for that service, Chai said, citing a recent report that forecast cargo traffic at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will exceed 4.02 million metric tons by 2040.
With all of those plans in the works, StarLux is likely to start showing a profit by 2023, after reporting a net loss of NT$2.66 billion (US$83.59 million) in the first half of this year and accumulated losses of NT$9.6 billion since its establishment in 2018, according to Chai.
Meanwhile, Starlux stocks will debut on the Emerging Stock Board on Friday at NT$12 per share, and 275 million shares will be issued, according to data from the exchange.
StarLux has a paid-in capital of NT$18.12 billion, and its revenue in the first eight months of 2022 rose to NT$1.11 billion, up 131 percent year-on-year, comprising NT$564 million in passenger transport services and NT$475 million in cargo services, according to its reports.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel