New Route of the Day – Americas (14 July 2024): China Airlines between Taipei and Seattle
China Airlines expanded its US network on Sunday 14 July by introducing flights between Taipei and Seattle. The 9,775-kilometre service will be maintained 5-weekly, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays departing Taipei, with the A350-900 aircraft. China Airlines last served the route 16 years ago, in 2008.
Flight CI22 departs Taipei at 23:30 local time, touching down in Seattle at 19:50 local time on the same day. The return service, operating as flight CI21, takes off from Tacoma International Airport at 01:20 local time on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays, touching back down in Taipei at 05:05 local time the following morning.
What they said
Sam Cho, Commissioner of airport operator Port of Seattle, said: “We’re thrilled to welcome China Airlines’ new service to Taipei and expand our partnership with the airline, connecting families and businesses to our region. There is a lot of potential for fostering mutually beneficial opportunities in tourism and business across our two regions. This partnership helps enhance our presence in Taipei and beyond.”
China Airlines faces strong competition in Seattle
China Airlines will contend against three other carriers between Taipei and Seattle. This includes Delta’s daily service between the two cities which was launched on 7 June. Taiwanese carrier Starlux Airlines will join the mix on 7 August with the introduction of 3-weekly flights. On the other hand, veteran EVA Airways has increased its number of weekly round-trip flights between the city-pair from seven to 10 from 25 June, in face of the growing competition.
China Airlines has operated in the North American market for more than half a century and growth has been particularly strong in the post-pandemic period. The carrier currently flies to five major cities in the US and Canada, including Los Angeles, Ontario in California, San Francisco, New York JFK, and Vancouver.
The scheduled non-stop service to Ontario in particular was the first of its kind from Asia and remains exclusive to China Airlines. The dual airport-one city configuration expands the passenger market for China Airlines and provides up to 3-daily flights to the Greater Los Angeles region. The introduction of the Seattle route will expand China Airlines’ North American network to six destinations and over 40-weekly return flights.
Seattle now served by 25 airlines
China Airlines’ new flights mark the fifth new international service at Seattle Tacoma International Airport to launch in 2024. Earlier this year, Seattle welcomed Delta’s service to Taipei, Lufthansa’s to Munich, Hainan Airlines’ flights to Chongqing and Alaska Airlines’ service to Toronto YYZ,
Seattle Airport now has 52 flights to 33 international destinations on 25 different airlines, with additional new carriers to join this year. They include Starlux Airlines to Taipei in August, Philippine Airlines to Manila in October, and Alaska Airlines to Liberia in Costa Rica, in December.
Seattle Airport handled over 50.8 million passengers in 2023, down 1.8% from pre-pandemic numbers in 2019, and is forecasting it will exceed pre-pandemic volume this year.
