"Air Tahiti Nui wants to replace its New York-Los Angeles-Papeete route with a new U.S. intermediate stopover that is "sexier, like Las Vegas", according to CEO Christian Vernaudon. He claimed that Los Angeles, the traditional U.S. gateway to Tahiti, is no longer in favor.
TN will suspend non-stop Papeete-New York-Papeete flights after Oct. 24, resuming Papeete-Los Angeles-New York-Los Angeles-Papeete flights.
Also confirmed is that the weekly Tokyo-Osaka-Papeete route will be abandoned on Oct. 1 as scheduled. Air Tahiti Nui is planning to offer three weekly Tokyo-Papeete-Tokyo flights in 2010 with departure times geared to connecting flights from and to China.
Another article says that Air Tahiti Nui plans have an "alliance" with Skyteam and also replace their 5 - A340-300's with more fuel efficient aircraft - by 2017.
Wedgetail737 From United States, joined Aug 2003, 3982 posts, RR: 4 Reply 1, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 5812 times:
Would Air Tahiti Nui really make all that much money on LAS? I'm sure they could find another destination that would yield more favorable income...perhaps SFO or YVR. I guess YVR would be kind of out of the way, but they could fly revenue passengers between YVR and JFK, just like CX.
I guess it wouldn't be any different than QF's LAX-JFK flights.
AOMlover From France, joined Jul 2001, 1235 posts, RR: 18 Reply 3, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 14 hours ago) and read 5746 times:
Las Vegas is an incredibly popular destination among the Polynesian population. Most of the Polynesian people flying to LAX for holidays take a trip to Las Vegas.
Upcoming flights: NCE-DXB-BKK EK 332/388, BKK-PHS TG 734, CNX-BKK TG 744, BKK-DXB-NCE EK 332/388
LAXintl From United States, joined May 2000, 12049 posts, RR: 22 Reply 6, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 5550 times:
What a bizare idea.
ATN has lost money since its inceptions, so I dont think turning a profit is much of a concern to the French Polynesian government whom seems to enjoy having the airline around for ego/prestige reasons.
Quoting AOMlover (Reply 3): Las Vegas is an incredibly popular destination among the Polynesian population. Most of the Polynesian people flying to LAX for holidays take a trip to Las Vegas.
And the population of Tahiti is what?
Anyhow ATN very much is focused on brining tourist down to Tahiti, something Vegas will not provide more then a handfull of per flight.
More sad is that ATN has been unable to make JFK work, a huge city with lots of wealth which idealy should be a market that provides plenty of visitors.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
FlySSC From Lebanon, joined Aug 2003, 6296 posts, RR: 65 Reply 8, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 5305 times:
Quoting Wedgetail737 (Reply 1): Would Air Tahiti Nui really make all that much money on LAS?
ATN has never made any profit since it was created and is still "alive" just because it is heavily subsidized by the Gov. so LAS iso LAX won't change that much their situation.
Don't forget that ATN is a typical "political" airline created to "please" the local corrupted megalomaniac politicians and calm down the "Independentists"
In any "real" world, ATN would be out of business for a long time.
Bestwestern From Ireland, joined Sep 2000, 5046 posts, RR: 62 Reply 9, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 11 hours ago) and read 5256 times:
Air Tahiti Nui is an essential part of the Governments aim to grow tourism on the islands of Polynesia. Without it, tourism and the entire economy would collapse.
Sometimes government sponsorship of airlines are critical - TN is one of the few examples of this.
Does God get peeved if you dont use a capital 'g' ?
Abrelosojos From Venezuela, joined May 2005, 3169 posts, RR: 24 Reply 11, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 5178 times:
Quoting FlySSC (Reply 8): ATN has never made any profit since it was created and is still "alive" just because it is heavily subsidized by the Gov. so LAS iso LAX won't change that much their situation.
Don't forget that ATN is a typical "political" airline created to "please" the local corrupted megalomaniac politicians and calm down the "Independentists"
In any "real" world, ATN would be out of business for a long time.
= I don't necessarily subscribe to this principal. ATN serves a very distinct need summarized by Bestwestern ...
Quoting Bestwestern (Reply 9): Air Tahiti Nui is an essential part of the Governments aim to grow tourism on the islands of Polynesia. Without it, tourism and the entire economy would collapse.
Sometimes government sponsorship of airlines are critical - TN is one of the few examples of this.
PSA727 From United States, joined Feb 2006, 933 posts, RR: 0 Reply 12, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 5164 times:
This is really one stupid idea!!! Las Vegas-Tahiti Flights????
Do they really think that the LAS flights would bring in more revenue than LAX?
At least LAX has a large amount of interline feed that LAS at the moment is losing.
And the airline joing Skyteam? Or any alliance for that matter. Is the "Tahiti-gap" for
an alliance that much of a concern for any of them. It brings virtually nothing to an alliance.
EddieDude From Mexico, joined Nov 2003, 4950 posts, RR: 49 Reply 13, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 5143 times:
Quoting PSA727 (Reply 12): And the airline joing Skyteam? Or any alliance for that matter. Is the "Tahiti-gap" for
an alliance that much of a concern for any of them. It brings virtually nothing to an alliance.
It may not bring anything to Star Alliance or oneworld, but it may be useful to SkyTeam. It brings to the alliance's North American fliers a more direct routing to New Zealand and Australia than what Korean Air and China Southern currently offer.
Remember that SkyTeam has a very limited presence in Oceania. This is not optimal, I know, but it is better than nothing.
Kiwiandrew From Mauritius, joined Jun 2005, 5461 posts, RR: 17 Reply 15, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 10 hours ago) and read 5122 times:
Quoting PSA727 (Reply 12): And the airline joing Skyteam? Or any alliance for that matter. Is the "Tahiti-gap" for
an alliance that much of a concern for any of them. It brings virtually nothing to an alliance.
I suspect that the value of TN to Skyteam is not so much PPT but the ability to 'close the gap between the Americas and Australia/New Zealand - at the moment the only ways to reach the Australia using current Skyteam members from the US are as follows
USA - ICN - SYD/BNE with DL/NW/KE
USA -CAN- SYD with CZ
or through HNL and GUM to CNS with CO
none of these are particularly mileage-efficient on an RTW
I realise that the Australia/New Zealand market with only around 24 million people between the two countries ( and most of those already Star or OW members if not both ) is not a huge prize in itself - but I have seen a lot of threads where North American Skyteam members ( a pretty significant business base ) have complained about the difficulty of access to Australasia
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
Goldorak From France, joined Sep 2006, 1067 posts, RR: 1 Reply 17, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4944 times:
If TN is joining Skyteam, we can bet that we'll not see anymore AF birds on LAX-PPT . They will "give" the route to TN (as it was done with Air Calin on NRT-NOU)
AA1818 From Trinidad And Tobago, joined Feb 2006, 2687 posts, RR: 6 Reply 18, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 9 hours ago) and read 4887 times:
Quoting Bkkair (Thread starter): Another article says that Air Tahiti Nui plans have an "alliance" with Skyteam and also replace their 5 - A340-300's with more fuel efficient aircraft - by 2017.
It probably won't happen, but It seems like the 787 would be a good fit for them. They seem to be struggling on many routes, and so downsizing the a/c incrementally might not be such a bad thing. The -8 offers the range needed, great economics and probably better size for some of their routes, and further offers a platform for growth into the 787-9. I assume it is more likely that an A350 order would be in the future if their finances are in order?
LAXintl From United States, joined May 2000, 12049 posts, RR: 22 Reply 19, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 8 hours ago) and read 4853 times:
Quoting Bestwestern (Reply 9): Without it, tourism and the entire economy would collapse.
Sometimes government sponsorship of airlines are critical - TN is one of the few examples of this.
Suggest you study up a bit on the history of the market.
PPT had quite some international air service which has been run out by the government(some quite publicaly) in deference to ATN which had been long held dream by local politicos.
Corsair, Qantas, Air NZ plus AOM/Air Liberte(which folded on its own), plus regular cruise charters on ATA and OMNI all served PPT and were squezed out in various ways.
The islands now have their fate tied to ATN, while island businesses and government must continue propping up a business that simply is a very poor business case.
From the desert to the sea, to all of Southern California
ScottB From United States, joined Jul 2000, 4280 posts, RR: 33 Reply 20, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 4564 times:
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 6): More sad is that ATN has been unable to make JFK work, a huge city with lots of wealth which idealy should be a market that provides plenty of visitors.
It's not surprising, though, given that NYC-PPT is just a horribly long way to travel for anything more than a once-in-a-few-years luxury vacation. If you just want to enjoy warm tropical breezes and a beach, there are dozens of options < 6 hours away from New York.
Quoting Bkkair (Thread starter): "Air Tahiti Nui wants to replace its New York-Los Angeles-Papeete route with a new U.S. intermediate stopover that is "sexier, like Las Vegas", according to CEO Christian Vernaudon.
OK, they are choosing destinations based on being "sexier" rather than on the underlying business fundamentals? Oh wait, I forgot, we're talking about Air Tahiti Nui -- which has never had a sound business plan aside from relying on government subsidies to underwrite massive losses.
Quoting AOMlover (Reply 3): Las Vegas is an incredibly popular destination among the Polynesian population. Most of the Polynesian people flying to LAX for holidays take a trip to Las Vegas.
But...they just take a quick trip to Vegas. Their true intended destination is L.A. And the main point of ATN is not to give Tahitians a way off the island; it is to bring tourists to Tahiti to spend money. They will not draw high-spending tourists from Las Vegas.
TN757Flyer From United States, joined Apr 2008, 706 posts, RR: 0 Reply 21, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 5 hours ago) and read 4460 times:
Quoting PSA727 (Reply 12): Do they really think that the LAS flights would bring in more revenue than LAX?
Ditto that. For that matter, is there really adequate traffic to serve JFK at all? They've tried it n/s, via LAX. It apparently isn't working. I can't imagine Vegas is going to make it better. I may very well be wrong, but Tahiti does not seem like a spot that would be high on New Yorker's list of vacation spots when the Caribbean is so much closer, albeit not as beautiful as Tahiti. Still this one has red ink written all over it.
Travelin man From United States, joined Mar 2000, 2989 posts, RR: 0 Reply 23, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 4295 times:
Quoting Bkkair (Thread starter): "Air Tahiti Nui wants to replace its New York-Los Angeles-Papeete route with a new U.S. intermediate stopover that is "sexier, like Las Vegas", according to CEO Christian Vernaudon.
Can you imagine another airline CEO saying they wanted a "sexier" route? Nothing about profitability, revenue, or anything that would drive a normal company.
OK, maybe Richard Branson would, but at least he knows how to run a profitable airline....
Csavel From United States, joined Jan 2001, 1150 posts, RR: 9 Reply 24, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 4 hours ago) and read 4209 times:
Quoting ScottB (Reply 21):
Quoting LAXintl (Reply 6):
More sad is that ATN has been unable to make JFK work, a huge city with lots of wealth which idealy should be a market that provides plenty of visitors.
It's not surprising, though, given that NYC-PPT is just a horribly long way to travel for anything more than a once-in-a-few-years luxury vacation. If you just want to enjoy warm tropical breezes and a beach, there are dozens of options < 6 hours away from New York.
Or even three hours, JFK - SJU. Even in New York, even before Wall St. destroyed itself, how many wealthy people in the New York area culd lay out that money to go all the way to Tahiti often enough to fill outtheir planes? They should just stop it already. It's stupid. They can keep the route to LAX, advertise in Kiplinger's or something and the wealthy will go there.
LAX is the only airport in the US they should serve.
I may be ugly. I may be an American. But don't call me an ugly American.
Lambert747 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 25, posted (1 year 1 month 3 weeks 5 days 1 hour ago) and read 3661 times:
Quoting Csavel (Reply 25):
LAX is the only airport in the US they should serve.
Add SFO, many, many people can agree with that..
Quoting PSA727 (Reply 12): This is really one stupid idea!!! Las Vegas-Tahiti Flights????
About as stupid as the now ceased LAS-NRT, LAS-HKG, and the soon to be terminated LAS-ICN flights.
26 Concordski: I don't think moving capacity from LAX is a great idea but at least they won't have to compete with AF on the route. Don't know if this was part of th
27 SLCUT2777: I think you could also add SEA or YVR to that list as two additional North American destinations. LAX for one flight, and a split between SFO and YVR
28 Lambert747: The TN rumors have abound over the years including: LAX-BOB (A319 All Business Class) PPT-CDG (A340-500) PPT-SFO PPT-YVR-CDG We have seen none of the
29 AirGabon: We should make a global study about the French overseas airlines, which are ALL heavily subsidized by local politicians and created to avoid problems
30 Pellegrine: booooo! I didn't get to fly it yet. I suppose there's about a 0.3% of it ever coming back?
31 Vhqpa: 99.999999% Guaranteed I find it very hard to imagine the French Polynesian Government ordering an American aircraft over a European aircraft. TN woul
32 NIKV69: Hopefully they last long enough to get a shot of it! Can you imagine a 1R depature with that bird and the casinos in the background! Now that is sexy
33 United_Fan: I remember reading an article TN that stated that they got the A340 because they (TN) were not certified for ETOPS and the 747 was too big,and an MD-
34 NIKV69: Good question those things can be pigs when they are heavy. Guess we will find out!
35 Yellowtail: Don't worry, the loads out of LAS won't be that heavy anyway...you might even be able to mistake it for a 752 departure.
36 Jetsetter629: What does this mean for ATN and their ties to One World. I know they currently are part of the Global Explorer RTW pass. They also code share with QF
37 Nzrich: They also codeshare with NZ also on AKL-PPT and PPT-LAX
38 Viscount724: And Air Saint-Pierre in the French territory of St. Pierre & Miquelon (population just over 6000) near the Canadian province of Newfoundland. I think
39 Goldorak: excellent idea. As you had it, would you like to start the thread ?
40 Miami1: Air Tahitti should be flying PPT - GRU, providing a seamless connection to PPT - SYD and PPT - AKl and PPT - NRT , PPT-YUL-CDG, PPT-YUL-BRU, ( largre
41 Nzrich: I hope you mean Air Tahiti Nui as thats the international airline may be a bit fat on Air Tahiti's Atr 72 / 42 services
42 Lambert747: PPT-GRU? PPT-YUL? PPT-MEX? PPT-HKG? They would be better throwing money on the fire.. PPT is a very distinct market, it is hard to try "new" markets
43 EddieDude: As beautiful as this sounds, I believe this is something we will never happen... at least not under the current "world-order" circumstances. I am a b
44 Miami1: SYD - PPT -GRU would be full, most passengers on LanChile through auckland are coming from buenos aires and sao paulo, traffic between australia to br
45 Mirrodie: Very true. We flew the route only as as means to get to Sydney and took the opportunity to see Tahiti. That said, nice place and lovely airline and c
46 Lambert747: If SYD-GRU was a good market it would have been flown years ago via an intermediate point. At current there is little demand if any between SYD and G
47 Flighty: It makes sense if you don't mind losing Biblical amounts of money flying a 10,300 mile route with no people on it. Tahiti has a rough go of it becaus
48 DavidByrne: Actually, I believe that there is a significant Japan-Brazil demand which may be predominantly VFR traffic - there are significant numbers of Japanes
49 Lambert747: Coming from a family with many relatives in Brazil I can attest first hand to the demand for GRU-NRT on a business end. As far as the VFR traffic goe
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. They will "give" the route to TN (as it was done with Air Calin on NRT-NOU)
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