Bullish about recovery, Starlux debuts on Taiwan’s stock market

Starlux Airlines has listed on the Taiwanese stock exchange, as the airline eyes expansion opportunities with a travel recovery in full swing. The airline is currently listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange’s Emerging Stock Board, a preliminary trading board before an IPO. The listing comes more than two years since Starlux – founded by former EVA Air chairman Chang Kuo-wei – began operations. According to stock exchange information, the airline remains loss-making: it posted an operating loss of NT$2.4b ($75.6m) for the three months to 30 June, and was NT$3.2b in the red for 2021. Still, the airline is optimistic about its near-term opportunities, especially with Taiwan announcing plans to ease travel curbs from mid-October. In a statement announcing its listing, Starlux says: “With the gradual relaxation of border measures in various countries and the recovery of the tourism market…revenue from January to August this year increased by 131% compared with the same period last year.” With Taiwan’s travel restrictions set to lift from 13 October, Chang, who is airline chairman, says the seond-half of 2022 “is the peak period for Starlux”, with the number of flights in the fourth quarter of the year set to see a two-fold quarter-on-quarter rise. <br/>