Starlux business class: “a stellar experience”

Taiwan’s Starlux Airlines will launch direct flights between Sydney and Taipei in 2027 – so what can travellers expect from Starlux business class?

As first reported by Executive Traveller, the long-awaited debut of Starlux in Australian skies will also include an add-on Sydney–Auckland–Sydney leg, which is expected to be available to book on its own for a quick trans-Tasman hop.

The delivery of the first Starlux A350-1000 in January this year, with five more to follow by year’s end, will free up the long-range A350-900 and regional Airbus A330neo jets to tackle the 9.5-hour route.

As we’re tipping the A350-900 for this new flagship route, here’s a recap of our review when the chic Taiwanese challenger introduced the A350-900 in 2023, which our contributor Gordon Smith rated as “a suitably stellar business class offering.”

The Starlux Airbus A350.

The advanced A350 twin-jet spearheaded Starlux’s long-range expansion, catapulting Starlux from a boutique regional player into the big league.

Starlux A350 business class.

And this is very much a Starlux A350, with a swathe of cabin enhancements including some genuine global firsts.

The windows can be dimmed at the touch of a button, similar to the Boeing 787 – but unlike the Dreamliner, the Starlux A350’s windows go fully black (not just the 787’s curious shade of deep Boeing blue), which was particularly welcome during our sunny afternoon flight.

And they’re fast, going all the way to black or back in just a few seconds.

Starlux A350 business class.

Seldom one to shy away from a big-name collaboration, Starlux has once again partnered with BMW Designworks to help set a sophisticated tone for its A350 cabin with effortlessly clean lines and rich colour palettes of dark grey, warm brown and Champagne gold accents hitting a very premium residential note.

Starlux A350 business class.

The cabin itself includes another world-first: the debut of embedded micro-LEDs in the bulkhead panels to create customisable and even gently animated lighting patterns.

Think of it as illuminated ‘smart wallpaper’ which complements the carefully-styled cabin and LED colour schemes and banishes those drab watercolours which typically adorn bulkhead walls.

Less obvious is that the Starlux A350’s cabin itself is slightly wider than the norm, with Airbus refining the latest A350s to add an extra four inches due to slightly straighter sculptured walls and higher-density insulation material behind them.

Starlux A350 business class

Rather than transferring its well-rated A330neo business class seat across to the A350, Starlux served as launch customer for the Elements product from Collins Aerospace (the firm also pioneered and supplied those micro-LED bulkhead walls).

Starlux A350 business class.

A next-gen evolution of the popular Super Diamond seat, Elements proves to be a very spacious and well-appointed business class suite.

Starlux A350 business class.

There’s noticeably more room than its Super Diamond predecessor, including legroom under the 24-inch 4K monitor, with ample privacy even before you shut the now-ubiquitous sliding door.

Starlux A350 business class.

The seat is framed by elegant curved 48.5cm (19”) walls topped by what Collins describes as a ‘halo’ lip angled inward to add to the suite’s cocoon-like cosiness.

Starlux A350 business class.

For inflight relaxation without putting the seat into flatbed mode, we recommend the ‘Zero G’ function: this one-touch option on the control panel sets the seat into an elongated W-shape which we found perfect for reading or watching a movie.

Starlux A350 business class.

Headlining the three storage areas is a cupboard with everything from USB-A, USB-C and AC power outlets to a wireless charging pad and a mirror.

Starlux A350 business class.

If the Starlux A350 business class Elements suite has one shortcoming, it’s the bifold table.

Starlux A350 business class.

Supported by a single joist, the table is prone to excessive shaking during even light turbulence, when during the meal service our soup made a valiant if ultimately unsuccessful attempt to escape the bowl.

Things were less challenging when using the table as a workspace, with a laptop providing sufficient counterweight to keep the table steady.

Starlux A350 business class.

As is becoming the new norm, you can leave the supplied noise-cancelling headphones in their cupboard and connect your own headphones or earbuds via Bluetooth.

The satellite Wi-Fi connection – which is free in Starlux A350 business and first class – serves up streaming video with minimal buffering, and was more than up to the task for everyday Web browsing, email and social media.

(In premium economy and economy there’s unlimited free texting using apps such as Facebook Messenger, Apple iMessage, WhatsApp and Line.)

Starlux A350 first class

The A350 also contains four first class suites – an evolution of the already-impressive business class product.

Starlux A350 first class.

These take pride of place as Row 1 ahead of business class, although not in their own cabin.

Starlux A350 first class.

The Starlux A350 first class suites occupy a larger footprint, raise the walls to 60” (1.5m) and upsize the personal video screen to 32”.

Starlux A350 first class.

First class creature comforts range from a personal mini-bar to a coat closet and luggage stowage.

Starlux A350 first class.

While more of a ‘business plus’ approach, Starlux’s decision to include first class on its A350s is another differentiation against China Airlines and Eva Air, both of which phased out first class in recent years.

In short: there’s attention to detail everywhere you look onboard the Starlux A350, and we mean everywhere – right down to airline-branded toilet paper.

Starlux is working hard and smart to make its mark in these ultra-competitive skies, and the carrier’s A350 business class raises the bar for its rivals while setting new industry benchmarks.

Also read: The best in new business class for 2026