SPECIAL DOSSIER: ISLANDS
SPECIAL DOSSIER: ISLANDS OF TAHITI 49 Getting There… From around the globe, it’s never been easier to fly to the Islands of Tahiti Air Tahiti Nui – Connecting the Northern Hemisphere to Oceania Starting from Tahiti, offering optimised schedules, Air Tahiti Nui connects cities in the Northern Hemisphere – Paris, Los Angeles & Tokyo – to the most popular places in Oceania: French Polynesia, Australia and New Zealand. In all, Air Tahiti Nui offers flights to destinations in 9 countries: • Tahiti • France: Paris and French towns and cities, plus Brussels(Codeshare partner SNCF) • United-States: Los Angeles and other American cities(Codeshare partner American Airlines) • Japan: Tokyo and other Asian countries(Codeshare partner Japan Airlines) • New Zealand: Auckland and other New Zealand cities(Codeshare partner Air New-Zealand) • Australia: Sydney (Codeshare partner Qantas) • The New Caledonia: Noumea (Codeshare partner AirCalin) • South Korea: Seoul (Codeshare partner Korean Air) Air Tahiti Nui announces extension to codeshare agreement with American Airlines Air Tahiti Nui has announced the extension of its codeshare agreement with American Airlines. Since January this year, American travellers have been able to fly direct from Los Angeles to Paris-CDG, while Tahitian travellers have better and easier access to new cities being added to the Air Tahiti Nui route network. Michel Monvoisin, Chief Executive Officer of Air Tahiti Nui commented, “These new developments will give us a better reach across the United States to develop the inflow of tourists to Polynesia. It will also help us consolidate our position on the transatlantic service”. Thanks to the new codeshare, American Airlines has extended its code on Air Tahiti Nui’s Los Angeles to Paris-CDG flights. Air Tahiti Nui has also extended its code to 5 new cities in North America on American Airlines with Charlotte, Portland, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Toronto. AMADEUS migration Air Tahiti Nui has announced it has adopted the Amadeus Altea system, to provide travellers with a larger selection of personalised services. The integration of this new IT solution was activated over the airline’s entire network on November 10th, 2016 POLYNESIA’S REGIONAL LINK: AIR TAHITI The regional carrier, Air Tahiti, operates a fleet made up of ATR-72 (68 seats), ATR-42 (48 seats) and Twin Otter DHC6-300 (19 seats). It is a private Polynesian company, and is a leader of tourism growth in French Polynesia. Air Tahiti covers a network of 47 islands in French Polynesia, across an area the size of Europe (5,500,000 km2), connecting more than 90% of the population. It provides administrative, school and medical transport between Tahiti and the islands, contributing in this way to the country’s regional and economic development. In 2016, Air France and Air Tahiti signed a special prorate agreement offering the two airlines’ customers increased services to the islands of French Polynesia. With this agreement, customers will be able to more easily book their flights to 19 islands of French Polynesia on departure from Paris, Los Angeles as well as the entire global network served by Air France and its partner airlines. Travelers can now book a single ticket from their departure airport through to arrival at their destination, including a long-haul trip with Air France and interisland flight with Air Tahiti. Announcing the agreement, Marnix Fruitema, SVP North America Air France- KLM stated: “With so many cultural, economic and historical connections between France and these idyllic islands, this new partnership means more passengers from around the world can experience all that these islands have to offer with a simplified travel itinerary on board Air France and Air Tahiti.” Joël Allain, Chairman and CEO of Air Tahiti, stated: “This agreement marks the beginning of a close cooperation between Air France and our airline. It allows us to more widely showcase Tahiti and its islands, which will benefit from Air France’s extensive global distribution network. Facilitated access to the network for travel agents worldwide will allow them to more easily sell the destination. Air Tahiti welcomes the signature of this agreement which helps to promote tourism in the destination” ITB BERLIN NEWS • Thursday 2 nd March 2017
