Airlines worldwide are actively diversifying their business opportunities due to low-level operations and suspended flights, and StarLux Airlines may be the most representative case from Taiwan.
StarLux just held a new phone launch event for Samsung on its charter flight in the air on September 7. And following by, the airlines announced that there will be six “moon-viewing” flights starting from October 1 and 2 during the Mid Autumn Festival, one of the most important holidays in Asia.
With the support of StarLux fans, not only those sightseeing flights are selling hot, but also the brand’s souvenirs. In August, StarLux launched a gift dessert box called “STARBOX”. Stickers showing landing on the moon were pasted on the AKH container (Air—Mode Cargo Containers) shaped box, a special shape designed for air cargo transportation, as a tribute to the space dream. 1500 STARBOXES were sold out for around USD 60 each immediately during the pre-order, and it also created a hot discussion on an AKH container.
Taking advantage of the success, StarLux Airlines released the STARBOX 2.0 version of the dessert gift box in early September. This time, it kept a sense of mystery and didn’t disclose the contents inside, but the boxes were snapped up by StarLux fans again.
And with the mid-Autumn Festival countdown, StarLux announced that it will launch six “fly to the moon” flights on October 1 and 2, with three flights per day. It will be like the sightseeing flights launched in early August, without landing in any other country under the pandemic situation. Detailed information about the flights, including pricing and ticketing options, and the routes, has yet to be released. Nevertheless, it is expected to create another buying wave, just like previous ones.
StarLux Airlines is a start-up airline that opened in January this year and operates 3 Airbus A321neo currently. It is founded by Chang Kuo-wei, former chairman of EVA Air. After his father, the founder of Evergreen group, passed away, Chang Kuo-wei was forced to leave EVA air because of the legacy flight in the family, which at the time EVA air was running quite successful under his management. The establishment of StarLux Airlines is referred to as “Prince’s Revenge” by the public and attracted many people who knew the story behind it to become the Loyal StarLux fans.
The StarLux e-Shop now lists around 70 items online and brings the company a monthly revenue of more than 300 thousand USD, thanks to its marketing team and its chairman’s personal appeal.