Starlux Airlines (JX, Taipei Taoyuan) is considering acquiring ATR - Avions de Transport Régional aircraft, with which it would launch scheduled domestic operations, even though its main focus remains international routes, its chief executive Glenn Chai revealed during a news conference in Taipei this week. But, he added, as none of the turboprops are currently available, domestic flights won’t be taking place for a while.

Starlux has said before, most recently in July, that it plans to enter both the cargo market and the domestic Taiwanese passenger sector, as it sees these areas as a fallback to protect the company in the event of any future local or foreign crises.

Chai confirmed at the event that the carrier plans to acquire freighters to boost its nascent cargo business and added that it would also consider buying ATRs for domestic operations, saying according to the Chinese-language newspaper The Liberty Times: “Domestic flights would come later, and they could cushion the impact from any unknown factors such as a new pandemic.”

There is room in the domestic market for more capacity, he said, but “at the moment there is no space to place an order with aircraft companies that manufacture ATRs” and “there is also a great shortage of qualified personnel.” As a consequence, ATRs will not be delivered - and domestic routes will not start - until the end of 2023 at the earliest, he said.

Chai summarised that Starlux Airlines would have 19 aircraft in its fleet by the end of this year (thirteen A321neo, four A330neo, and two A350s) and 23 by the end of 2023. The ch-aviation Commercial Aviation Aircraft Data module shows that it currently operates an all-leased fleet of ten A321-200NXs (with one more to be delivered) and three A330-900Ns (with four more to be delivered), and it also has on order seventeen A350-900s, one A350-1000, and two A321-200Ns.

Chai was speaking ahead of the debut of Starlux stocks on the Taipei Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board on September 30, when 275 million shares will be issued. It has previously traded its shares on the country’s over-the-counter market. Although the company is starting to build up debt, the chief executive insisted that its finances are evenly balanced and that it will achieve its first profit next year.