The Taiwan Ministry of Transport and Communications has approved Starlux Airlines’ air operator certificate (AOC) application, as it moves towards its debut commercial flight on Jan. 23.

The startup airline is now awaiting the official documents from the Civil Aeronautics Administration before applying for its airline callsign and code from ICAO and IATA. Its new website went live on Dec 16, and ticket sales for flights from Taipei to Penang, Macau and Da Nang started on the same day. Starlux will have three new Airbus A321neos by Jan. 23, and each aircraft will be used heavily on three respective routes; 21times weekly flights to Macau, 14 times weekly flights to Dan Nang, and one daily flight to Penang.

The airline expects to receive its first A350 in the second half of 2021.