Air Tahiti Nui to end Sydney flights

[David B.]

Some time away, however it's yet another carrier to permanently depart Australian shores :(

Source (http://www.pacificmagazine.net/news/2008/12/17/air-tahiti-nui-to-drop-sydney-papeete-nonstop-flights)

Air Tahiti Nui has decided to halt non-stop Sydney-Papeete flights next summer, but three weekly Sydney-Auckland Papeete flights will continue to allow Tahiti to develop the Australian tourist market.

Tahiti's international carrier has also decided to continue operating non-stop New York-Papeete flights next year, but only between June and October. During the remaining eight months of 2009, Air Tahiti Nui will not operate any flights from New York either non-stop or via Los Angeles.

Both recent decisions taken last week dismantled the hub system the airline created in Tahiti in July 2005 with the opening of non-stop New York-Papeete flights that connected with non-stop Sydney-Papeete flights. It was one of the most dramatic developments in the traditional Los Angeles-Papeete route and the Paris-Los Angeles-Papeete route in Tahiti's aviation history.

continues..

Air Tahiti Nui will continue to offer a SYD-AKL-PPT service thrice weekly, with passengers flying Qantas across the ditch then TN to Papeete.

Cheers

[Bob C]

Hi David

From my reading of your post, Air Tahiti Niu will not "end Sydney flights" nor will it "permanently depart Australian shores".

It's halting non-stop Papeete-Sydney flights but will still be offering Papeete-Auckland-Sydney flights three times a week as you mention at the end of your post.

[Brian Wilkes]

What he is saying is you will not see the NUI A340 at Sydney and you will have to catch the service via code share via Qantas to meet the aircraft in AKL!

[Greg McDonald]

What a shame!! Probably the best paint scheme that we get in Sydney.

[Bob C]

My apologies - I formulated my reply to the text in the quote but obviously misread the final sentence under the quote box and totally overlooked the mention of Qantas.

[NickN]

What a shame, best livery we get! Oh well, we are getting a few newbies to replace them so they'll have to do.

[Steve Crook]

I will aso be sorry to see Air Tahiti Nui go. I had the pleasure of flying SYD-PPT and return a couple of months ago on TN and found it to be a terrific arline to fly - great service, and I do have a soft spot for their great looking (and sounding) A340s. The 2am scheduled departure time on the return (actually 3am with a delay) was a bit of a killer. But I had been reading the Tahiti press online that the airline was struggling with the economic downturn (etc) so I guess the QF codeshare to AKL with onwards on TN is a better option than seeing the airline going under.