Disappointing Officially but Passengers Brought the Vibe on Starlux Airlines’ Hong Kong Inaugural July 2024




July 16, 2024
JX 232 Hong Kong to Taipei Lv1055 Arr1230 Airbus A330-900N B-58303

Photo Album:
https://app.photobucket.com/u/Carfie...TITLE&desc=asc

Starlux Airlines finally arrived in Hong Kong. As someone who split time between Hong Kong and US, it is great news to see Starlux Airlines taking advantage of the leftover slots from China Airlines and EVA Air, which reduce the schedule on one of the busiest routes in the world after Covid. Tiger Taiwan also gets some slots and chooses not to use so. Starlux currently runs twice daily flights between Hong Kong and Taipei Taoyuan Airport, which connected well to their flights to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Seattle will have a long layover on the eastbound flight, but maybe their third frequency (not daily though, but maybe thrice or four times weekly), which will begin in the Fall, may allow a better connection to Seattle as well. I have a feeling that Starlux is looking beyond just traffic between the two busy cities, but also some connection opportunities to North America and Japan including some unique secondary Japanese cities. They have some fares from Hong Kong to Bangkok/Kuala Lumpur/Peanag but they require overnight at Taipei in one direction or both directions.

I think I am expecting a bit more than I should, especially after Starlux actually painted one of Hong Kong tram into a Starlux X Peanuts theme. However I should know better given how Hong Kong Airport authority tends not to emphasize on these inaugural events, despite spending millions of dollars in attracting new carriers into Hong Kong. Starlux also receives a hefty sum of subsidies on these new flights, and if you are willing to launch a new long haul flight, you will get an even higher subsidy. One would expect the Hong Kong Airport Authority throwing a bigger party or at least do a bit more promotion. After seeing most social media stories, the folks attending the Taipei to Hong Kong inaugural flight got a bit more festivity at Taoyuan airport, especially two water canon salutes – one on departure from Taipei and one on arrival in Hong Kong.

SATS is the ground agent for Starlux Airlines in Hong Kong, and check in opened a bit earlier than normal given it was their first day of operation. There were separate lanes for priority/business class/elite members, online check-in baggage drop-off, and regular economy passengers. As you could tell, it was a busy flight and lots of AvGeeks and Peanuts/Snoopy fans were joining this inaugural party. It was a shame that Starlux Airlines and Hong Kong Airport Authority could not take full advantage of it. The agent was obviously polite and everyone was learning too, so things were a bit slower than expected. When I asked about any celebration at gate, he just said that he did not know. That’s not a good sign. I should know that it is just a polite way of saying no. If I knew, I would spend a bit more time in the Qantas lounge.






Starlux Airlines definitely invested in premium products and to my surprise, they used the Qantas Lounge for its business class and elite passengers, instead of throwing us to the awful Plaza Premium lounges. There was also a SATS/Starlux agent at the lounge front desk, so he or she could help the Qantas staffs in identifying elites and guest rules.

Qantas Lounge was wonderful as usual and the staffs obviously tried harder in making the Starlux passengers comfortable. I am sure the lounge will be a bit busier than usual now especially in the mid-morning hours with the daily Starlux flight. Most Qantas flights depart in the evening as expected.













Gate 24 was assigned to the inaugural flight about two hours prior to departure. I went early and found the 9:05am flight to Singapore was still at the gate.






I noticed that nothing much was being set up so I went to the Sky Bridge and waited for the plane to arrive.

Just an excellent view of planes passing under the Bridge. I only wish that they clean the windows more often!






The inbound arrived slightly early and you could feel the excitement in the Sky Bridge.
Water canon salute… the best I could do given it was a bit far from the Sky Bridge.








The plane parked a bit late at 9:47am.













Gate 24 was packed with AvGeek and Snoopy/Peanuts fans, and two Starlux flight attendants finally showed up with various signs. I stood in queue and took a picture with them.









Boarding began at 10:41am and the new ground staffs passed out gift bag to each departing passenger.
Nothing too exciting and it would be nice to get a certificate, but it was really not that popular here in Hong Kong/Great China region.






Eric the Cantonese-speaking purser was welcoming guest at Door one. If Starlux excels in one thing, it was their team of flight attendants. They are truly exemplary and Eric was a good example in being personable and providing the best service possible. He apologized in advance that he would not be able to chat with each passenger given the short flying time.




There is no pre-takeoff champagne service on Stalux Airlines. Instead, they offer a cold-pressed fruit juice and hot towel service. Today’s choice is a guava-pineapple juice. The flight attendants also took his or her times in taking meal and beverage orders. They are very patient and also offered to show how the seats worked too.




Airbus A330-900N cabin







Row 2, the bulkhead rows, have the best seats, as you get more leg space, due to the lack of seats intruding into your feet space. I personally like 2K the best!



Despite a late start, door was closed only 15 minutes late at 11:10am, but unfortunately the weather had gotten worst, as a wave of thunderstorm was passing through the airport. ATC basically had to space 3-5 minutes between each eastbound flight, and we were number 30. The flight attendants passed around orange juice in business class, along with packaged rice crackers and mixed nuts, along with Snoopy playing card.





We pushed back at 11:49am, as they needed our gate for the next arrival.

We finally took off at 12:14pm from R/W7R for the hour and twenty-nine minutes flight. We climbed to 37,000ft for the short flight. The routing took a more southerly course to avoid the weather, but the flight was not turbulent at all.








Here is the wine list and menu for the flight.
July 2024
Starlux Airlines Business Class
JX 232 Hong Kong to Taipei 10:55am departure (JX 234 & 236 shares the same menu)

All Day Menu
Starlux Edition

Bread Selection
Spinach Rustique Bread, Purple Sweet Potato Bread
Served with Isigny Sainte Mere butter

Tapas & Pinchos
Curry Prawns with Flamed Pineapple Skewer
Dry Spicy Garlic with Fried Turnip Cake
Scallion with Smoked Shredded Duck Salad
Roasted Chicken Breast Pumpkin Seed Salad

Sweet Finish
Steamed Purple Sticky Rice Milk Pudding

Or
Exclusive International


Bread Selection
Spinach Rustique Bread, Purple Sweet Potato Bread
Served with Isigny Sainte Mere butter




Starter
Cream Green Kohlrabi Soup


Main – Choice of
Grilled Taiwanese Chicken Thigh, Pommery Mustard Red Wine Sauce



Or
White Wine Clam Seafood Squid Ink Pasta

Sweet Finish
Cherry Chocolate Mousse Cake



Seasonal Fresh Fruit



2024C J HKG-TPE 00

Wines
Champagne
Champagne Laurent-Perrier La Cuvee Brut 2012

White Wine
TRIMACH Riesling Reserve 2018, Alsace, France
Rimapaere Sauvignon Blanc 2022, Marlborough, New Zealand

Red Wine
Chateau Baron Edmond de Rothschild Chateau Clarke, 2011, Bordeaux, Listrac-Medoc, France
ERRAZURIZ Aconcagua Alto, Carmenere 2021, Aconcagua Valley, Chile

Fortified Wine
Dow’s Fine Tawny Port, Douro, Portugal
J 2024B-1

Sci-Fi Cosmo – Gin, Lactacid Acid Drink, Blue Curacao Syrup, & Tonic Water




Hot towel and assorted candies were handed out after the meal service, as we started our descent!


I love Starlux’s creative menu and the choice for tapas is great. I had the tapas for the return flight and will attach those pictures towards the end.

WiFI is free for all business class passengers, but On-Air is slow and just a poor choice by Starlux.

It is interesting to note that one F/A was assigned to distributing duty free good, as she was quite busy with the huge amount of orders that they clearly got. If you want to purchase duty free on these short Hong Kong/Macau to Taiwan flights, I highly recommend using the pre-order system. If you are in economy, I don’t know if they have time to sell you duty free on these short flights, given the huge amount of pre-orders.

We began our gradual descent at 12:52pm and the weather cleared out as we reached the Taiwanese coast line.








We landed on R/W23R at 1:43pm and parked at gate C1 nine minutes later.

There were a number of us connecting to Bangkok, Osaka, and Tokyo Narita. Since I already knew that the same plane would take me to Bangkok, I was not worried about the delay. Starlux arranged some ground staffs on this inaugural service, but honestly, they did not really provide any additional help. I should have just told the ground agent that I knew my way here, and went to the lounge, instead of wasting 15 minutes for economy class passengers.

If I have a major criticism of Starlux, it would be their ground service. Since they are a new entrant, their planes were parked all over the airport, so connecting can be a pain at times. They don’t really have a staffed transit desk at Taipei and if you connect from other carriers, you should use their mobile check-in. At many out stations, they really did not have transit desk staffs. On a subsequent Kuala Lumpur departure, I was told that they did not have transit desk service, but their website provided no such information. I was lucky that I went to the gate early. Being their elite member and flying business class also helped. They were able to print out the boarding pass and lounge pass at the gate for me. However, they really need to step up on providing information at their website. But if you are connecting from another airline to Starlux at any stations, even in Taipei, you will need to exit immigration/custom and re-check-in the departure level, unless you can get a mobile boarding pass. Just beware that Starlux is pretty much horrible on their ground operation. I think updating and providing more information at their websites will be a good first step.

I flew on a few subsequent Starlux Airlines flights, and the crews were a delight. Being an Insighter certainly helped but their service was really top notch. They patrolled the cabin frequently and nothing seemed to be much of a bother. I think there are a few items that they could work on, especially a pre-meal cocktail service on the slightly longer flights to Bangkok. Hong Kong/Macau/Clark/Cebu is too short to have such service, but Bangkok/Chiang Mai/Ho Chi Minh City is about three hours and can use a pre-meal cocktail service with packaged mixed nuts/rice crackers system.

Their ground service remains the weakest link, but given the situation at Taipei Taoyuan airport, they really can’t do much until Terminal Three is opened. I hope all three major Taiwanese airlines will get to hang on to one terminal with their alliance partners. The airport is so overwhelmed that China Airlines and EVA Air will get assigned a gate at the Concourse that they don’t usually use. I was on an EVA Air flight that parked at a D gate a month ago.

I look forward to more Starlux Airlines flights and my next inaugural is Taipei Taoyuan to Seattle but since I had a tight connection from Bangkok, I may not be able to report much on it.

I hope you enjoy this short report and the photos.

Carfield

PS. Return from Taipei to Hong Kong on JX 235