Airbus near deal to sell A350s to Taiwan's StarLux

FARNBOROUGH: Airbus is close to a deal to sell A350 long-haul jets to Taiwanese start-up StarLux Airlines, people familiar with the matter said on Sunday.

The planned airline has selected the Airbus A320neo family to start medium-haul operations, and was reported earlier this year to be looking at 14 larger wide-body Airbus or Boeing  jets.

Airbus, which is expectd to unveil several orders at this week's Farnborough Airshow, declined to comment.

The airline, founded with the aim of challenging Asian network carriers by former EVA Airways chairman Chang Kuo-wei, was not available for comment.

If confirmed, a deal for 14 A350s would be worth about $4 billion at list prices.