Luxury Taiwanese airline Starlux will begin flights between Taipei and San Francisco International Airport (SFO) later this year—with plans to increase those flights to daily by next spring.
Starlux Airlines recently increased its Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) route to daily service and said it would debut flights to SFO on Dec. 16, with reservations now open for booking.
Flights were available on Starlux's website between SFO and Tapei when The Standard visited Wednesday morning. An economy roundtrip between the destinations leaving San Francisco on Dec. 19 and returning on Jan. 2 was available for $2,595.
Flights are scheduled to leave Taipei International Airport at 11:40 p.m. local time on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, landing at SFO at 6:15 p.m. Pacific Time. They will then depart SFO at 11:40 p.m. local time on the same days, arriving in Taipei at 5:30 a.m. local time the following day.
The flights are expected to expand to daily by next March, mirroring the daily Los Angeles-Taipei services that began this summer.
Starlux also has its sights set on offering an expansion model for a Seattle route in 2024, Starlux Airlines CEO Glenn Chai said in a statement.
“With San Francisco’s proximity to Silicon Valley and status as a significant political, economic, and tourism hub, the City by the Bay has established itself as a top travel destination," Chai said. "And with one-third of its population of Asian descent, our new route will cater to these travelers’ needs too, whether they are visiting family, vacationing, or traveling for work."
The carrier's Airbus A350 planes will carry four first-class seats with sliding doors and anti-travel-fatigue seating modes and 26 business-class seats. The planes will also have 36 premium economy seats with footrests and 240 economy seats, each with 4K screens and Bluetooth headphone connection options.
Thanks to a promotion with Sony, first-class flyers traveling from Taipei to San Francisco between Dec. 16 and the year's end will receive a pair of Sony WH-1000XM5 wireless noise-canceling headphones.
Other than Tapei, Starlux serves 19 destinations in Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and the United States.
In April, Alaska Airlines announced it would become Starlux's first partner, allowing passengers on both carriers to earn and redeem miles. In August, Alaska said it would cut some routes out of SFO, though the airline said those cuts could be temporary.