Just after midnight on August 1, 2026, an Airbus A350-900 lifted off from Taipei and pointed its nose at Central Europe. In the left-hand seat sat K.W. Chang — not a rostered captain, but the chairman of the airline, flying his own inaugural. Nine hours later STARLUX touched down in Prague, and Taiwan’s flashiest young carrier had its first foothold in Europe.

For a five-year-old airline that has spent its short life being compared to the best in Asia, planting its European flag in Prague rather than London, Paris or Frankfurt is a statement in itself.

Why Prague, of all places

It looks like an unusual first choice, and it is deliberate. Starlux becomes only the second Taiwanese carrier to fly nonstop to the Czech capital, after China Airlines. The logic is less about tourists queuing for Prague Castle and more about silicon: Taiwan and the Czech Republic have been deepening their semiconductor-industry ties, and business travel tends to follow supply chains.

The route runs three times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, with a fourth weekly rotation added from October 1. Prague also opens the door to Starlux’s wider Asian web — Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Ho Chi Minh City and more — for European travellers connecting over Taipei.

A cabin built to show off

Starlux did not build its reputation on being cheap. The A350-900 on this route carries four classes, and the pointy end is genuinely rare: a First Class cabin of just four enclosed suites, plus 26 Business Class suites with lie-flat seats and private doors. Below that sit Premium Economy and a notably generous Economy, where even the cheapest ticket includes two 23 kg checked bags.

The cabin was designed by BMW Designworks and the catering built with Michelin-starred kitchens — the kind of details that have made Starlux a favourite of the aviation-review crowd since it started flying in 2020.

A young airline reaching west

Starlux is barely five years old, born just as the pandemic grounded the world. That it has grown from a standing start into a long-haul carrier flexing A350s into Europe says a lot about its ambition — and Prague is unlikely to be its last European dot on the map.

For now, the Czech capital gets a direct line to Taipei, complete with a chairman willing to fly the first one himself. Not a bad way to introduce yourself to a continent.

Sources: Prague Airport press release; Focus Taiwan; Taipei Times; ch-aviation; AeroTime.