Taipei: Starlux Airlines launched its first European route Saturday with its inaugural Taipei-Prague flight, becoming the second Taiwanese carrier to offer direct services to the Czech capital after China Airlines. The maiden flight, piloted by Starlux Chairman K.W. Chang, took off at 12:50 a.m. from Taoyuan International Airport and landed in Prague at 9:01 a.m. local time.
According to Focus Taiwan, Starlux will initially operate three round-trip flights per week between the two destinations on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays using an Airbus A-350. The service will increase to four weekly flights starting October 1. The outbound flight is scheduled to depart Taipei at 12:10 a.m. and arrive in Prague at 7:50 a.m. local time. The return flight leaves Prague at 10:20 a.m. and lands in Taipei at 5:10 a.m. the following day.
Starlux CEO Glenn Chai described Prague as a milestone in the airline's global network expansion, stating the new route would support growing business and leisure travel demand as semiconductor supply chain ties between Taiwan and the Czech Republic continue to deepen. Chai also announced that Starlux will soon begin selling tickets for flights to Barcelona, which would make it the first Taiwanese airline to operate direct services to Spain.
David Steinke, head of the Czech Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei, expressed hope that the direct flights will attract more Taiwanese visitors to the Czech Republic while promoting exchanges in tourism, trade, education, and culture.
To mark the launch, Starlux and Taiwan's Tourism Administration invited Czech baseball player and engineer Ondrej Satoria, known in Taiwan for striking out Japanese superstar Shohei Ohtani at the World Baseball Classic earlier this year, to fly on the inaugural Prague-to-Taipei flight for a nine-day tour of Taiwan.