Luxury boutique airline Starlux on 4 October announced the start of its codeshare pact with oneworld alliance member Alaska Airlines. It is the first such agreement for the Taipei-based carrier, which reportedly plans to apply for oneworld membership next year.

The codeshare agreement is currently limited to only eight domestic routes from Alaska Airlines’ Seattle base: Austin, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Portland PDX, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Tickets can already be booked via either carrier’s website.

“We are thrilled to unveil our inaugural codeshare flights in collaboration with Alaska Airlines, marking a pivotal expansion of our North American network,” said Starlux CEO Glenn Chai in a statement.

The current destination list includes a number of cities that Starlux previously expressed interest in serving. During the carrier’s August 2024 launch of Airbus A350 service to Seattle, company chief strategy officer Simon Liu revealed to Runway Girl Network that Dallas and Phoenix were on the list, alongside other cities including Chicago and New York.

Regardless of where it ends up next, Starlux has been very clear that it needs codeshares to fill seats and that a tie-up with Alaska Airlines is going to help make that happen.

The nascent airline first announced a partnership with Alaska back in April, 2023 wherein Alaska’s Mileage Plan members can earn and redeem miles on all Starlux flights, including to its first North American destination, Los Angeles. It has since expanded this arrangement to include San Francisco, another west coast stronghold for Alaska Airlines.

Alaska Airlines at SFO San Fran terminal 1 during sunrise.

Alaska Airlines’ flights to eight US destinations connect to Starlux’s Seattle-Taipei route and onto 23 Asian cities. Image: Alaska Airlines

Rumors that Starlux’s early interest in Alaska would eventually send the airline into the waiting arms of the oneworld alliance appear to have been true, if not all that unsurprising. Taiwanese media reported in mid-September that Mr. Chai intends to submit an application to the alliance by the end of 2025.

Rotation

Oneworld membership would significantly open up options for Starlux and its passengers, as well as provide the alliance with a foothold in Taiwan.

The other two major Taiwanese airlines, China Airlines and EVA Airways, are part of SkyTeam and Star Alliance, respectively.

Starlux has also announced a handful of network tweaks. Its Los Angeles gateway will expand to ten weekly flights on 22 December, while Seattle will go from thrice-weekly to daily from 1 March 2025 as more long-haul jets join the fleet. The passenger experience (PaxEx) aboard Starlux’s widebodies is nothing short of superb, as your author and fellow RGN contributor Jason Rabinowitz can attest.

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Featured image credited to STARLUX

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