Air Tahiti Nui’s 787-9 Deamliners will fly the new route between Seattle and Papeete
Air Tahiti Nui launched service to Seattle on October 5, 2022, offering twice-weekly direct service to Papeete on Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
“North America is a key market for our destination. So, when we decided to open a second gateway on the West Coast, Seattle was a natural answer for us,” said Air Tahiti Nui Managing Director Mathieu Bechonnet. “I would like to thank our partners at Alaska Airlines and the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for their warm welcome and support in making this happen.”
The inaugural flight was greeted with a traditional water-cannon salute from the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Fire Department. The aircraft can be seen passing beneath SEA’s recently-opened pedestrian skybridge linking the S Gates to the new international arrivals hall.
The airline and airport hosted a gala-like arrivals ceremony complete with the requisite speeches, gift exchange, and traditional dancers.
Dancers performed to traditional Tahitian music
The 4,785-mile flight’s scheduled duration is eight hours and forty-seven minutes, which takes a bit less time than the 4,800-mile flight from Seattle to London.
It is likely that if you read our site, you will find this Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340 video quite amusing.
The airline is based at Faa’a International Airport in Tahiti, which the area offers some pretty darn amazing views. Air Tahiti operates a fleet of five Airbus A340-300 aircraft in a unique and fun livery.
The video was made by Matthieu Courtous using different clips of videos to celebrate the airline’s 15th anniversary. Do not worry, permission was given from the airline and the owners of the other videos to make this amazing short film.
The video shows some great exterior views of the plane and of the flight deck, but the passenger cabin is pretty slick as well. Be sure to check out this tour of the colorful interior an Air Tahiti A340 by our friends over at Airchive.com.
Air Tahiti Nui Airbus A340-300 (F-OLOV) about to leave LAX. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren.
Air Tahiti Nui is a small airline based out of Faa’a International Airport in Papeete, Tahiti. They operated a fleet of only five Airbus A340-300 aircraft that are set up in a three class configuration. Each one of the aircraft has a unique name of one of the local islands: Bora Bora (F-OJTN), Mangereva (F-OJGF), Rangiroa (F-OSEA), Moorea (F-OSUN) and Nuku Hiva (F-OLOV). The airline was created to increase tourism and operations commenced on November 20, 1998.
Air Tahiti Nui’s livery is one that definitly stands out and I think in a nice way. The blues match the waters of Tahiti and the red stripping matches the flag of French Polynesia.
