Taipei Just Got Twenty More American Cities on One Ticket

American Airlines and Starlux Airlines announced a codeshare partnership on Thursday that quietly solves one of the more annoying problems in trans-Pacific travel: getting from Taipei to somewhere in North America that is not Los Angeles. American will place its code on Starlux-operated flights to Taipei Taoyuan from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Ontario, California, with Phoenix to follow pending regulatory approval. Flights went on sale immediately for travel starting September 30.

The practical effect is on the other side of the gateway. A passenger leaving Taipei can now buy a single itinerary through to New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Charlotte, Miami, Orlando, Dallas/Fort Worth, Denver or Las Vegas, among roughly twenty destinations in American’s network. Before this, the same trip usually meant two separate tickets, two separate baggage policies, and no protection if the first flight ran late. AAdvantage members buying a codeshare flight under the partnership will earn miles and Loyalty Points on it.

Starlux is an unusual partner for a US major. Founded in 2018 by a former EVA Air executive, it built its reputation on a deliberately boutique product — narrow cabins, heavy design investment, an unusually young Airbus fleet — and only reached the United States in 2023. It now serves five destinations in the western US. Pairing that with American’s domestic breadth gives the Taiwanese carrier reach it could not buy with aircraft, and gives American a Taipei presence without flying there itself.

It also says something about how American is approaching Asia. The airline has spent years with the thinnest Pacific network of the three US majors, leaning on partners rather than its own metal. Codesharing with Starlux, alongside its existing Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific relationships, extends that strategy rather than reversing it. Whether it eventually becomes something deeper — a full joint venture, or American flying its own aircraft to Taipei — is the open question, and nobody at either airline is answering it yet.

Sources: AirlineGeeks, Business Travel News