Aeri28 From United States of America, joined Dec 2000, 591 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (10 months 3 weeks 3 days 2 hours ago) and read 1358 times:
I haven't heard anything about Air Calin in years, (Not that i have looked lately), but I at one time had a great interest in New Caledonia and always wanted to fly them from PPT to NOU. I remember when AOM opened up a Los Angeles to Noumea nonstop about ten years ago but when the airline folded, no one (Air France or Air Calin) decided to pick up the route and further open up NC to the North American traveler,.
What IS Air Calin up to these days?? Do they still serve Papeete and Nadi Fiji?
Thomas_Jaeger From Switzerland, joined Apr 2002, 2264 posts, RR: 31 Reply 2, posted (10 months 3 weeks 3 days ago) and read 1259 times:
They currently serve the following destinations:
- Auckland: 2x weekly (320/332)
- Brisbane: 2x weekly (320)
- Nadi: 2x weekly (320)
- Osaka: 2x weekly (332)
- Papeete: weekly (332)
- Port Vila: 2x weekly (320)
- Seoul: 2x weekly (332)
- Sydney: 4x weekly (320/332)
- Tokyo: 4x weekly (332)
- Wallis: 3x weekly (320, 1x via Nadi)
Plus ten weekly flights with a Twin Otter between Wallis and Futuna.
From what I know they are losing money with losses essentially being covered by the regional government of New Caledonia. New Caledonia as such is fairly rich thanks to natural resources (mainly copper), but has not yet seen the same level of tourism as similar groups of islands in the South of the Pacific with just a dozen or so hotels catering to international tourists. The largest groups of visitors are from France, Japan and Australia from what I remember in conversations with people working in tourism organizations there when I have been there last time around. This explains the choice of destinations (connections with AF via KIX/ICN/NRT to CDG) and highest capacity allocated to Japan flights.
Swiss aviation news junkie living all over the place
koruman From Australia, joined Feb 2006, 2979 posts, RR: 6 Reply 3, posted (10 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 1143 times:
It's a very similar story to Air Tahiti Nui.
The airline's number one task is to ensure that air links to Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Korea cannot be compromised by foreign carrier withdrawals, so tourism survives.
Its number two task is to be a major local employer.
Making money is a loooooong way down the list of priorities. It would be nice, of course.
But three decades ago New Caledonia and the New Hebrides were neighbouring French possessions. And noone, but noone, wants to become Vanuatu (post-independence New Hebrides) where there are lots of viable tourist companies but the people live in abject poverty.
So subsidised marginally unviable companies are really viewed as a godsend, not a curse.
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