Recently, Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines announced its first North American destination for its new A350-1000s, Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport. This is a surprising move, as the airline has been in Phoenix for barely over half a year, and it seems odd that it would get the new, larger variant of the A350 before cities with a high amount of passenger traffic between them and Taipei, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. In any instance, the last flight of a Starlux A350-900 between TPE and PHX for the foreseeable future was on June 30th, and so I added it to my to-do list of flights. I got just about everything right on replicating this particular flight except the flight time (four minutes longer than the IRL one) and the cruising altitude (I kept it at FL350 for the whole flight, when I should’ve gradually climbed to FL410 at some point). Regardless, this is part of the close of a unique chapter in Phoenix aviation history and anticipates the start of a new one. Enjoy!
Server: Solo
Airline: Starlux Airlines
Aircraft: Airbus A350-900
Origin: Taoyuan International Airport, Dayuan, Taiwan (TPE)
Destination: Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Phoenix, Arizona (PHX)
Flight Number: JX26
Route: RCTP-KPHX
Seat: 7K (Business)
Time En Route: 12 Hours 20 Minutes
Looking at our aircraft at Gate D11 at dusk while it’s readied for the trip across the Pacific. This is going to be our second trip aboard one of Starlux’s A350s and the third overall with the airline. After our amazing experience last time, flying from here to Los Angeles, we’re excited for a reprisal of the superb comfort, delicious dining, and spectacular service we received.
Taxiing by Taoyuan Tower and Terminal 1, the latter of which is packed with China Airlines and Tigerair Taiwan, with aircraft from several other carriers mixed in. The business class cabin is just as modern and welcoming as we remember it being. Looks like we’ve got another great flight ahead of us!
Powerful takeoff from Runway 23R courtesy of the Trent XWBs. Their familiar sound is somewhat soothing, in a way, letting us know that we’re off to Phoenix. As we get airborne, we’re starting to recline our seat and get comfy for the flight ahead.
Headed north as we climb along the coast of Taiwan, with the lights of Taoyuan and New Taipei fading out in the distance. As we mentioned before regarding our TPE-LAX trip, Starlux’s A350-900 business class cabin is perhaps the most modern and luxurious among Taiwanese carriers, no mean feat considering the quality of China Airlines and EVA Air’s business class hard products. With its tasteful rose gold, silver, and bronze accents surrounding our seat and orange-gold mood lighting overhead, the cabin feels more like a spaceship than a commercial airliner. Whatever else can be said about our trip from here on out, Starlux has their hard product nailed down, period.
A few hours into our flight, we’ve got our seat fully reclined and are preparing to get some sleep as we cross the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean below us. Earlier, we had a dinner of tea-smoked Iberico pork collar, prepared by Michelin-starred Taiwanese restaurant YUENJI, with a guava sago for dessert. All we can say about it is “Wow.” From the first bite, we were hooked, with the meal easily pushing Starlux into our top five airlines by dining experiences. The cabin crew serving it was extraordinarily warm and friendly as well, asking if we enjoyed our time in Taiwan (we did) and if we’re enjoying our time on this flight so far (we are). However, the flight is long and it’s past one in the morning, so it’s time to get some much-needed shut-eye.
After spending much of the trip across the Pacific alseep, we’re still waking up inland of California’s Central Coast. We first awoke over the ocean a few minutes west of Monterey, but we’re so comfortable that getting up is hard to do. The seat we’re in is comfortable to give Singapore Airlines’s A350 business class, ANA’s The Room, JAL’s Sky Suite, Cathay Pacific’ Aria and Qatar Airways’s QSuite a run for their money, and the bedding and pillows we were provided proved to be among the most comfortable we had. We’ve only got a short while left in our flight, but we’re going to savor every moment of it we have left.
On final for Sky Harbor with Arizona State Route 202, the Red Mountain Freeway, about to pass beneath us. In these last minute of flying on this aircraft, we’re reflecting on just how stellar our experience has been. The food, comfort, and cabin service has been out of this world, the atmosphere in the cabin has been relaxing, and even the weather seems to particularly like us today. It’s easily one of the best flights we’ve ever had on any airline, and definitely the best overall on a Taiwanese one.
Arriving in Phoenix in the early evening on Runway 25L. A couple years ago, suggesting that Phoenix would have not one, but two direct flights to Taiwan would be seen as madness, but now two of the best airlines in Asia are flying here on a daily basis. It’s a bittersweet occasion for fans of Starlux, though, as this’ll be the last time the A350-900 touches down here for a while, at least. As we slow down to exit the runway, we once again realize we’re on hand for history being made.
Taxiing to our gate on the port engine past rows and rows of American Airlines jets. It makes us feel sort of out of place, a widebody from a relative newcomer to the industry among throngs of narrowbodies and regional jets belonging to one of the oldest airlines still in operation. More importantly, how do we fit into all this? Gate space in Phoenix is at a premium, after all, and the ramp agents already have their hands full with American Airlines, Hawaiian Airline, and British Airways widebodies arriving in the afternoon.
Deplaned at Gate B23 across the alleyway from the big American Airlines maintenance hangar. We embarked on this journey with a favorable opinion of Starlux, but disembarked as a major fan of it. Business class on its A350s is some of the best in, well, the business. Starlux has positioned itself in only a few years as a major player in the lucrative Asia-West Coast market, beyond which it has expanded to Arizona, making it the envy of several other airlines, including another favorite of ours that is currently putting its foot down on the upstart Taiwanese carrier joining its airline alliance. While it’ll be sad to see the A350-900s go at Phoenix, we can and will still catch flights on the elsewhere, and we’ll be looking forward to trying out the A350-1000 from here in the future!