Summary
- Seattle-Taipei now has non-stop EVA Air, Delta, and China Airlines flights.
- Starlux will join them in August.
- Between 2009 and 2023, only EVA Air operated non-stop.
On July 15, the Taiwanese carrier and SkyTeam member China Airlines resumed flights between Seattle and Taipei. This followed the June 2024 start of fellow SkyTeam carrier Delta, the first time it has operated non-stop between the US and Taipei. It previously served Seattle-Taipei via Tokyo until 2016.
In August, Starlux will begin. It is hard to imagine that only EVA Air operated last year and that the previous record for non-stop operators was two, last held in 2008. There will be a tremendous amount of capacity. Who will blink first?
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The freed-up equipment will be flown to Singapore instead.
Welcome back, China Airlines!
It took 16 years, but China Airlines’ passenger aircraft are back in the State of Washington (dedicated freighters continue to operate). The 5,278 nautical mile (9,775 km) route is served five weekly on the 306-seat Airbus A350-900. It is scheduled as follows, with all times local:
- Taipei-Seattle: CI22, 23:30-19:50 (11h 20m; same day arrival)
- Seattle-Taipei: CI21, 01:40-05:05+1 (12h 25m)
While China Airlines and Delta are both SkyTeam members, they do not codeshare in Seattle. However, China Airlines’ website shows passengers can connect to/from numerous US cities on Alaska Airlines via Seattle. In addition to this and the point-to-point market, multiple Asian cities are reachable on a two-way basis from Seattle via Taipei.
China Airlines previously operated passenger flights to Seattle between 2004 and 200. They were on the A340-300, a type since withdrawn from its fleet. It existed alongside EVA Air, which had served the market for years after other carriers pulled out.
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There have been significant changes.
Starlux is next to begin
Leaving Asia on August 16 and the next day from the US, Taiwan’s Starlux will soon start its first Seattle service. It will become its third North American city after Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Operating three times weekly on the A350-900, its August schedule is as follows, with all times local. Notice that the aircraft will remain in Seattle for nearly 10 hours.
- Taipei-Seattle: JX32, 20:00-16:15 (11h 15m; same day arrival)
- Seattle-Taipei: JX31, 02:10-05:10+1 (12h)
Photo: Eurospot
Four airlines, up to four daily flights
The latest Cirium data shows that Seattle has flights to nine Asian airports between August and December. Given the considerable development to/from Taipei, it’s unsurprising that that market now has the most seats for sale, flights, and available seat miles. However, in the same five months in pre-pandemic 2019, it was only third or fourth, depending on the measure.
Photo: Kent Raney | Shutterstock
There will be triple daily to four daily Seattle-Taipei departures. In the week that Starlux begins, 25 weekly services will operate:
- EVA Air: 10 weekly 787-10/777-300ER
- Delta: daily A330neo
- China Airlines: five weekly A350-900
- Starlux: three weekly A350-900