Taiwan’s boutique carrier Starlux Airlines will make Václav Havel Airport Prague its inaugural gateway to Europe, opening a nonstop Taipei Taoyuan–Prague service on 1 August 2026. The airline will start with three weekly rotations (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and rise to four from October, using 306-seat Airbus A350-900 aircraft configured in four classes.
Although China Airlines has served the Taipei–Prague market since 2023, capacity is still thin on long-haul links to the Czech capital. Business travellers heading for the country’s fast-growing semiconductor and automotive clusters routinely back-track via Frankfurt, Vienna or Dubai—adding hours in transfer time and immigration queues. A same-aircraft service that lands at 07:50 a.m. local time will let executives step off the red-eye, clear Schengen immigration and reach meetings in Prague, Brno or Dresden before lunch.
Before booking seats, passengers should confirm entry formalities: VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) lets Taiwanese citizens and other non-EU nationals check whether they need a Schengen visa for the Czech Republic, upload documents and track approvals in real time—an easy way to avoid last-minute embassy visits and keep tight itineraries on schedule.
![Starlux Airlines picks Prague for its first European route]()
For Czech exporters, the direct flight shortens supply-chain lead times to Taiwan and onward destinations in North-East Asia. Cargo agents note that the wide-body’s 20-tonne belly-hold capacity will be welcomed by high-value manufacturers shipping precision machinery and medical devices. Prague Airport projects 95,000 passengers and 3,000 tonnes of freight in the first year, and has offered Starlux a marketing incentive package that waives landing fees for six months.
Travel managers should update corporate booking tools now so that negotiated Asia–Europe fares capture the new inventory when it loads in April. Because Starlux is not yet a member of a global alliance, interline agreements are limited; travellers connecting beyond Prague will need separate tickets or O & D fares on Czech Airlines or SkyTeam partners. The carrier says it is pursuing a codeshare with Czech Railways so passengers can through-check bags to Brno and Ostrava via rail-and-fly.
In the medium term, Starlux’s arrival reinforces Prague’s strategy of diversifying long-haul markets beyond the United States and Korea. With Korea’s T’way Air and now Starlux committing to Prague within an 18-month window, the airport’s route-development team believes it can lift non-Schengen traffic from 3 % to 7 % of total throughput by 2028.
Although China Airlines has served the Taipei–Prague market since 2023, capacity is still thin on long-haul links to the Czech capital. Business travellers heading for the country’s fast-growing semiconductor and automotive clusters routinely back-track via Frankfurt, Vienna or Dubai—adding hours in transfer time and immigration queues. A same-aircraft service that lands at 07:50 a.m. local time will let executives step off the red-eye, clear Schengen immigration and reach meetings in Prague, Brno or Dresden before lunch.
Before booking seats, passengers should confirm entry formalities: VisaHQ’s online platform (https://www.visahq.com/czech-republic/) lets Taiwanese citizens and other non-EU nationals check whether they need a Schengen visa for the Czech Republic, upload documents and track approvals in real time—an easy way to avoid last-minute embassy visits and keep tight itineraries on schedule.
For Czech exporters, the direct flight shortens supply-chain lead times to Taiwan and onward destinations in North-East Asia. Cargo agents note that the wide-body’s 20-tonne belly-hold capacity will be welcomed by high-value manufacturers shipping precision machinery and medical devices. Prague Airport projects 95,000 passengers and 3,000 tonnes of freight in the first year, and has offered Starlux a marketing incentive package that waives landing fees for six months.
Travel managers should update corporate booking tools now so that negotiated Asia–Europe fares capture the new inventory when it loads in April. Because Starlux is not yet a member of a global alliance, interline agreements are limited; travellers connecting beyond Prague will need separate tickets or O & D fares on Czech Airlines or SkyTeam partners. The carrier says it is pursuing a codeshare with Czech Railways so passengers can through-check bags to Brno and Ostrava via rail-and-fly.
In the medium term, Starlux’s arrival reinforces Prague’s strategy of diversifying long-haul markets beyond the United States and Korea. With Korea’s T’way Air and now Starlux committing to Prague within an 18-month window, the airport’s route-development team believes it can lift non-Schengen traffic from 3 % to 7 % of total throughput by 2028.
