In search of Starlux - Taiwan’s newest airline
For an island with a small population of 24 million, it is quite remarkable that Taiwan can sustain two premium carriers in the form of EVA Air and China Airlines - let alone a third in Starlux.
If you’ve not heard of Starlux, they are a new-ish carrier who are planning to go into the ultra-premium segment and become the ‘Emirates of Asia’ - just don’t tell them that Emirates is technically based on Asian continent…
Starlux began service in January 2020 with service to Cebu in the Philippines, Macao S.A.R., China and Penang, Malaysia with a small fleet of A32x aircraft featuring competitive lay flat seating. Clearly, this was an awful time for an airline to launch with a global pandemic on the horizon but somehow Starlux have managed to survive two and a half years of Taiwan’s border closure.
As air travel returns to Asia, air fares are high and, unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to fly Starlux while I visited Taiwan. I did however try to seek out their extensive range of products after speaking with a follower on Instagram and seeing this article on One Mile at a Time.
What’s interesting about Starlux’s products?
Unless you’re an avgeek, you can skip this article since you will find it terribly boring… However Starlux have an extensive range of themed products that are both intriguing and high quality. Unfortunately, the products only ship to specific countries in South East Asia and Taiwan as well as their physical stores in Taipei. Since I was in the city, I thought I’d head across and check out these two stores.
I’ll include the Chinese language address below as Google Maps and Apple Maps showed the English language address as navigating to a different location. The Chinese one is the correct one - major navigation apps will be able to send you to the right one even if you don’t understand the characters.
台北市中山區南京東路三段168號 - open between 09:30 - 17:30, nearest station MRT Songshan Line/Muzha Line "Nanjing Fuxing Station" Exit 2
Strangely, a second shop is a combined with a 7-Eleven in the weirdest collaboration I’ve come across. This is the address:
台北市松山區敦化北路149號 - open between 24/7, nearest station MRT Songshan Line "Taipei Arena Station" Exit 1.
This second store is around 10 minutes’ walk from the first.
One final temporary pop-up store (not listed on the English site) can also be found at this address: 新北市新莊區新北大道4段3號 (1樓北大門). I did not visit here.
Nanjing Fuxing Station store
Located on a busy road, the main Starlux store is rather unassuming but continues the bronze aesthetic of their main company branding.
Step inside and you depart the humid climate of Taipei to discover a spaceship-inspired store fitted out with ‘windows’ showing ‘the view from space’. At the centre is the cashier but note that this also serves as a ticketing office.
For service, you are supposed to get a number in the queue within one of the relevant sections. In practice, this wasn’t warranted because the store was empty.
The shop forms one corner of the spaceship with a small but high quality selection of Starlux-branded goods.
The collection of products is extensive - from the plane models through to the destination themed cups. There is plenty of interesting items to browse through here.
Some apparel items can also be purchased…but that might be taking it too far for me!
Starlux have done an excellent job with this store/ticket office. It looks modern and reflects well on their branding as a premium focussed carrier.
Compare that with the rather utilitarian looking China Airlines two minutes down the road…
Of course, I walked out with completely unnecessary purchases…
7-Eleven Starlux Concept Store
From first glance, the exterior doesn’t look too different from other 7-Eleven stores besides perhaps being a little cleaner and newer.
And the clear Starlux branding alongside the subtle runway effect behind the signs.
Inside is where things get strange but cool with tables for customers to eat from which are transparent featuring models of the airport and aircraft inside the tables.
Towards the back wall is a selection of the same Starlux merchandise from the previous store. These are all glued down and cannot be moved.
A smaller range can be found to the rear of the store. The range here is more limited but one can ask for help from the 7-Eleven staff.
This being a 7-Eleven you can also get the rest of the products you would expect from onigiri to hot dogs, except in a slightly nicer environment than usual.
The brand collaboration between 7-Eleven, an everyday convenience store, and a premium airline feels odd. As a full-time marketeer, I struggle to see what the value is for the airline but it is an unexpected partnership which excites the avgeek in me. If you’re looking for the better range of goods, head to the Starlux Shop/ticketing office which has more on display and is a nicer place to visit. If you are in Taiwan or South East Asia, you will be better off purchasing from their website as the selection is greater. Visiting these two shops, makes me want to fly Starlux even more on my next visit to Asia…
