Taiwanese startup Starlux Airlines doubles down on Airbus A350 freighter

Taiwan-based Starlux Airlines, which has been in business for five years and operates 26 passenger aircraft, is doubling down on its strategy to become a freighter operator in a region hungry for widebody shipping capacity.

The company on Thursday announced it has placed a firm order with Airbus for five more A350 next-generation freighters, doubling its previous order from last February.

Starlux Airlines will become the first Taiwanese airline to operate Airbus’ newly designed freighter later this decade. It said the A350 fleet will be operated by its cargo division on some of the world’s busiest freight routes. Starlux has previously said it is diversifying to take advantage of growing demand for electronic components and semiconductors, which are key manufacturing sectors in Taiwan.

Taiwan’s major cargo airlines are Eva Air and China Airlines, which last month said it will buy four 777-8 aircraft, the next-generation freighter being developed by Boeing.

“The cargo market is set to become a key element in our business model and will benefit from the advantages offered by Taiwan’s geographical location,” said Starlux CEO Glenn Chai. “The A350F is the perfect choice for Starlux, offering a similar payload-range capability as previous generation freighters, but with very significant reductions in fuel consumption and carbon emissions.”

The freighters offer commonality with Starlux’s existing fleet, which includes eight 350-900 passenger jets.

Air cargo demand increased more than 10% year over year in 2024. Red Sea shipping disruptions and the threat of U.S. dockworker strikes pushed more cargo to airlines. Many shippers procured inventory from overseas months earlier than usual to avoid potential transport delays and give themselves time to find limited aircraft capacity as e-commerce platforms reserve large swaths of supply under long-term contracts.

More than 20% of general air cargo volumes worldwide are now considered to come from e-commerce platforms, and upwards of 60% of air shipments out of the greater Hong Kong region originate with online marketplaces in China, according to local airlines and industry experts. Freighters operating last year out of China and other parts of Asia were nearly full, especially during the peak season.

Analysts and trade associations are predicting air cargo to grow in the midsingle digits this year.

Boeing recently forecast air cargo volumes will grow at a compound annual rate of 4% over the next 20 years. Interest in factory-built cargo jets and passenger-to-freighter conversions is rising because dedicated freighters give businesses greater flexibility and schedule reliability over shipping goods via passenger aircraft. About 600 to 650 large freighter aircraft, with payloads of 80 tons or more, are currently in operation. About half of them will reach retirement age in the next three to five years, according to Boeing.

Airbus has recorded 55 orders from 10 airlines and lessors so far for the all-new A350. FreightWaves reported in November that Etihad Airways plans to purchase three additional A350s and is negotiating final terms with Airbus. The aerospace manufacturer will officially count the the expanded Starlux order when all conditions are met, which will bring the order backlog to 60 aircraft, spokeswoman Katharina Wambach explained. Airbus says it expects to begin commercial deliveries of the new plane, which is still in final development and testing, in 2026.

The A350F, powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-97 engines, can carry a payload of up to 120 tons and can fly up to 4,700 nautical miles. It will feature the industry’s largest main deck cargo door, designed to ease loading of shipping containers and nonstandard pieces of freight. The large cargo door offers the option of using 20-foot shipping containers, something that is rarely, if ever, done with traditional side-loading aircraft, said Crawford Hamilton, head of freighter marketing at Airbus, in an interview last March with STAT Media Group. More than 70% of the airframe is made of advanced materials. Airbus claims the lighter airframe and efficient Rolls Royce engines produce a 20% advantage in fuel burn and carbon dioxide emissions over the legacy Boeing 777 currently in production, as well as the older Boeing 747-400.

More FreightWaves/American Shipper stories by Eric Kulisch.

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