Air Tahiti is a French airline company which operates in

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

. Its main hub is Faa'a International Airport. It is the largest private employer in French Polynesia.

Company history

Early seaplane operations

The company was founded in July 1950 by Jean Arbelot and Marcel Lasserre, operating between

Papeete Papeete (Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Papeʻetē'', pronounced ; old name: ''Vaiʻetē''Personal communication with Michael Koch in ) is the capital city of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of the France, French Republic in the Pacific ...

, Raiatea, and

Bora Bora Bora Bora (French language, French: ''Bora-Bora''; Tahitian language, Tahitian: ''Pora Pora'') is an island group in the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific. The Leeward Islands comprise the we ...

using a 7-seater seaplane, a

Grumman Widgeon The Grumman G-44 Widgeon is a five-person, twin-engined, amphibious aircraft. It was designated J4F by the United States Navy and Coast Guard and OA-14 by the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces. Design and developmen ...

J-4F. In 1951, the French Ministry for the Overseas purchased on behalf of the Territory a

Grumman Mallard The Grumman G-73 Mallard is a medium, twin-engined amphibious aircraft. Many have been modified by replacing the original Pratt & Whitney Wasp, Pratt & Whitney Wasp H radial engines with modern turboprop engines. Manufactured from 1946 to 1951, ...

amphibian aircraft An amphibious aircraft, or amphibian, is an aircraft that can take off and land on both solid ground and water. These aircraft are typically fixed-wing, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seap ...

, which the airline was allowed to use. In May 1951, it inaugurated a fortnightly mail service between

and

Aitutaki Aitutaki, also traditionally known as Araura and Utataki, is the second most-populated island in the Cook Islands, after Rarotonga. It is an "almost atoll", with fifteen islets in a lagoon adjacent to the main island. Total land area is , and the ...

in the

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

, only for the first flight to be turned away due to concerns about

Polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

. The route was discontinued in June 1952 when

TEAL alt=American teal duck (male), Green-winged teal (male) Teal is a greenish-blue color. Its name comes from that of a bird—the Eurasian teal (''Anas crecca'')—which presents a similarly colored stripe on its head. The word is often used ...

extended its service to Papeete. The airline temporarily ceased all operations in July 1952 after a crash injured its only pilot, but services resumed in April 1953 after an Australian pilot was recruited. Gradually, Air Tahiti spread its wings to all the islands of French Polynesia. In 1953, the first landing in the Gambier archipelago was achieved. In October 1953, the first flight to the Marquesas islands took place with a sea-landing at Taiohae / Nuku Hiva.

RAI

In July 1953, the Territory reallocated the Grumman Mallard to ''Régie Aérienne Interinsulaire'' (RAI, "interisland aviation board"), a subsidiary of Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux, which took over air transport in French Polynesia. The Air Tahiti brand then disappeared. RAI acquired two

Consolidated PBY Catalina The Consolidated Model 28, more commonly known as the PBY Catalina (U.S. Navy designation), is a flying boat and amphibious aircraft designed by Consolidated Aircraft in the 1930s and 1940s. In U.S. Army service, it was designated as the OA- ...

seaplanes to expand links between the islands of French Polynesia. Originally operating in an orange livery, these aircraft later adopted green and blue. The network was expanded, and in 1955, the Austral archipelagos inaugurated seaplane service with the opening of routes to Tubuai and Raivavae. In 1958, RAI rebranded as the ''Réseau Aérien Interinsulaire'' (Inter-Island Aviation Network). It continued to operate seaplanes, and expanded its network to include the

Tuamotus The Tuamotu Archipelago or the Tuamotu Islands (, officially ) are a French Polynesian chain of just under 80 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean. They constitute the largest chain of atolls in the world, extending (from northwest to ...

. It also operated a

Short Sandringham The Short S.25 Sandringham is a British civilian flying boat designed and originally produced by Short Brothers. They were produced as conversions of the widely used Short Sunderland, a military flying boat that was commonly used as a maritime ...

"Bermuda"

flying boat A flying boat is a type of seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in having a fuselage that is purpose-designed for flotation, while floatplanes rely on fuselage-mounted floats for buoyancy. Though ...

connecting the main runway at Bora-Bora with Papeete. The construction of Papeete's Faa'a International Airport in 1960 was followed by a vast construction program of runways across French Polynesia, and RAI's fleet shifted away from seaplanes towards conventional aircraft.

Air Polynésie

In 1970, RAI rebranded again as Air Polynésie. Nicknamed "Air Po" by Polynesians, the company asserted more of its Polynesian identity and implemented regular services throughout French Polynesia and especially to the more remote islands. The airline had a "virtual monopoly" due to a convention with the territorial government. Initially operating a

"Bermuda"

, a

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1960 ...

propliner and a

de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter The de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian STOL (Short Takeoff and Landing) utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada in the mid-1960s and still in production today. Built by De Havilland Canada from 1965 to 1988, Viking ...

turboprop, it later added a

Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander The Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander is a British light utility aircraft and regional airliner designed and originally manufactured by Britten-Norman of the United Kingdom. Still in production, the Islander is one of the best-selling commercial air ...

and two

Fokker F27 Friendship The Fokker F27 Friendship is a turboprop airliner developed and manufactured by the Dutch aircraft manufacturer Fokker. It is the most numerous post-war aircraft manufactured in the Netherlands; the F27 was also one of the most successful Europe ...

s. It began operations to

Huahine Huahine is an island located among the Society Islands, in French Polynesia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. It is part of the Leeward Islands (Society Islands), Leeward Islands group ''(Îles sous le V ...

in April 1971. In late 1984, faced with a need for new capital to purchase modern aircraft, it threatened to wind itself up unless a loan was guaranteed by the territorial government.

Air Tahiti again

In 1985, the former

UTA Uta or UTA may refer to: Universities *University of Texas at Arlington, in the United States *University of Texas at Austin, in the United States *University of Tarapacá, in Chile *University of Tampere, in Finland Sports * FC UTA Arad, a R ...

(by then absorbed by Air France) sold a majority of Air Polynesia shares, with 25% being given to the French Polynesian government and the remaining 45% sold to local investors. In 1987, the airline was again rebranded as Air Tahiti, using a fleet of

ATR 42 The ATR 42 is a regional airliner produced by Franco-Italian manufacturer ATR (aircraft manufacturer), ATR, with final assembly in Toulouse, France. On 4 November 1981, the aircraft was launched with ATR, as a joint venture between French Aér ...

regional turboprop aircraft. Between 1987 and 2007, it quadrupled its passenger-kilometres travelled, from 75 million to 315 million.

Destinations

Air Tahiti covers a network of 48 destinations, most of which are in French Polynesia, although one is available in the Cook Islands. Air Tahiti ATR 72-500 at Rarotonga Airport

Air Tahiti ATR 72-500 at Rarotonga Airport

Codeshare agreements

Air Tahiti has

codeshare agreements A codeshare agreement, also known simply as codeshare, is a business arrangement, common in the aviation industry, in which two or more airlines publish and market the same flight under their own airline designator and flight number (the "airli ...

with the following airlines: *

Air Rarotonga Air Rarotonga is an airline based in Rarotonga, Cook Islands and is the flag carrier of the country, known by their slogan as ‘The Airline of the Cook Islands’. It operates inter-island and regional scheduled services throughout the Cook ...

Interline agreements

Air Tahiti also has an interline agreement with

French Bee French Bee SAS, styled as French bee, and formerly named ''French Blue'', is a French low-cost, long-haul airline based at Paris Orly Airport. It operates a scheduled network between France and worldwide leisure destinations with a fleet of Ai ...

Fleet

, the Air Tahiti fleet consists of:

Accidents and incidents

* On April 18, 1991, Air Tahiti Flight 805 was on approach to Nuku Hiva Airport, when the aircraft, a

Dornier 228 The Dornier 228 is a twin-turboprop STOL utility aircraft, designed and first manufactured by Dornier GmbH (later DASA Dornier, Fairchild-Dornier) from 1981 until 1998. 245 were built in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany. In 1983, Hindustan Aeronautics ...

, suffered an engine failure and attempted to ditch near the coast. 10 of the 22 occupants in the aircraft were killed.

References

External links

Official Air Tahiti Website Aircraft manufacturer ATR website SEAC State Department of Civil Aviation Website
{{IATA members, asia Airlines of France Airlines of French Polynesia Airlines established in 1953 1950s establishments in French Polynesia 1953 establishments in Oceania 1953 establishments in the French colonial empire Former seaplane operators