Taiwan's Starlux orders 10 more Airbus A350 long-haul jets

By Giulia Segreti

PARIS (Reuters) -Taiwan's Starlux Airlines has placed an order for 10 more Airbus A350 long-haul jets, the two companies said at the Paris Airshow on Wednesday.

The deal could be worth around $1.85 billion, according to aircraft price estimates provided by Cirium Ascend.

Starlux CEO Glenn Chai said deliveries of the new A350-1000s were expected to start in 2031.

"This aircraft is the perfect match for our long-haul strategy," Chai told reporters.

The carrier operates an all-Airbus fleet of 28 aircraft, including A350-900s used for trans-Pacific routes, A330neos and A321s used for regional ones.

Chai added that the airline expected to start flying to its first European destination next year, but did not give further details.

Taiwan's newest full-service airline launched its first flights in 2020 and serves destinations including Tokyo, Bangkok, Hanoi, Singapore, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“This is not the first time with Starlux, but we can’t get tired," Airbus Chief Commercial Officer Benoit de Saint-Exupery said, noting that Starlux's first order with the European planemaker was in 2019, for 17 A350 planes.

Starlux also unveiled on Wednesday its new carbon fibre livery for the 1000s.

(Reporting by Giulia Segreti. Editing by Mark Potter)