Earlier this year STARLUX Airlines announced service between Taipei and Phoenix. Now there is a new development as the Taiwanese carrier is teaming up with American Airlines to provide feed for that flight and more.
STARLUX and American Enter Interline Agreement
STARLUX and American Airlines have entered into an interline agreement which will allow passengers to book a single ticket for flights on both carriers. It will also allow for through-checked baggage when transferring between American and STARLUX flights.
Currently, STARLUX flies from its hub at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) in Taipei to four destinations in the United States: Los Angeles (LAX), Ontario (ONT), San Francisco (SFO) and Seattle (SEA). STARLUX will launch service to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) in January 2026.
In announcing the agreement, STARLUX CEO Glenn Chai said:
“We are very honored to have the partnership with American Airlines — one of the United States top airlines. The partnership will greatly expand STARLUX’s reach into the U.S., with customers accessing American’s vast North American network. It will also increase travel choices for American Airlines customers looking to travel to Taipei.”
Anmol Bhargava, American’s Senior Vice President of Alliances, added:
“American is delighted to offer more travel options for customers with STARLUX. Through this interline partnership, customers can enjoy convenient connections from Taipei to more than 250 destinations in North America. We look forward to working with STARLUX to enhance opportunities for American’s customers to travel from North America to Taipei.”
American Airlines operates hubs at both Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Phoenix so those will be the most likely connecting point for travelers. It will be interesting to see if STARLUX decides to launch service to Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW), American Airlines’ largest hub, as part of this new agreement.
Earlier this year, fellow Taiwanese carrier EVA Air announced that it would launch flights between Taipei and Dallas. This was seen by some, myself included, as an offensive move aimed at keeping STARLUX out of the market.
Will STARLUX Join OneWorld?
With STARLUX entering into an interline agreement with American Airlines, it raises the question of whether or not the airline will join the OneWorld Alliance. American and Alaska Airlines (Which operates hubs in Seattle and San Francisco where STARLUX also operates flights) are both members of the alliance and STARLUX CEO Glenn Chai has made no secret of the fact that he wants to join the alliance.
Strategically, this would make sense as the two other full service carriers in Taiwan, EVA Air and China Airlines, are members of Star Alliance and SkyTeam respectively. If STARLUX does join the alliance, we would likely see closer cooperation with American and Alaska.
Until STARLUX joins OneWorld, if it happens, I wouldn’t expect to see much more in the way of this partnership. American has a transpacific joint venture with Japan Airlines and is therefore incentivized to send connecting traffic bound for Asia via Tokyo.
Summary
STARLUX Airlines and American Airlines have entered into an interline agreement which will allow passengers to buy a single ticket for travels on both carriers. This will no doubt open up connecting traffic for STARLUX’s flights to the United States and, if the carrier joins OneWorld, I would expect this partnership to deepen.