Air Corail is being set up by a French/Spanish businessman to improve connections mainly within the French Pacific.

The new airline seeks to end the scarcity of regular air link to islands between New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Air Corail says it plans to employ 95 people and use either a small Airbus or an Embraer jet.

The company wants to cooperate with Air Tahiti Nui to access its network into North America and Europe and considers approaching Air New Zealand and also French Bee.

https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pac ... -next-year

Would it be the first time such service is started? Wasn't there a UTA Caravelle hoping between islands ages ago?

Interesting. I thought that Aircalin flew these routes, but they don't. I wish them well, especially given the times in which we live.

Is there actually any demand between these islands?

While demand is not massive,I fully expect that it should support few frequencies per week.
Today, unfortunately, one must often backtrack significant distances to places like Australia or New Zealand at quite high cost to travel.
Also while islands are linked by cargo ships, I am sure air service will also be able to carry some higher priority cargo and aid with economic and social links.
Of course the economics of operating in this region is not cheap either, so will the airline be viable is a good question.

All routes shown above are well within the A220 and 190/195E2 ranges. (Tahiti - Nadi is 3503 km).

We know the A220 will eventually be ETOP certified, but how about the E2?

[photoid][/photoid]

ExMilitaryEng wrote:

All routes shown above are well within the A220 and 190/195E2 ranges. (Tahiti - Nadi is 3503 km).

We know the A220 will eventually be ETOP certified, but how about the E2?

A220 depending on configuration could even do PPT-NOU nonstop. It is similar distance to RIX-AUH, which Air Baltic flies.

As for ETOPS - is it required? There are so many islands with airports in between PPT and NOU, what are the regulations in regarding to operating with no ETOPS? Do Air Tahiti's ATRs have ETOPS?

'902

TWA902fly wrote:

[photoid][/photoid]

ExMilitaryEng wrote:

All routes shown above are well within the A220 and 190/195E2 ranges. (Tahiti - Nadi is 3503 km).

We know the A220 will eventually be ETOP certified, but how about the E2?

A220 depending on configuration could even do PPT-NOU nonstop. It is similar distance to RIX-AUH, which Air Baltic flies.

As for ETOPS - is it required? There are so many islands with airports in between PPT and NOU, what are the regulations in regarding to operating with no ETOPS? Do Air Tahiti's ATRs have ETOPS?

'902

In January 2019 Transport Canada granted ETOPS-180 for the A220 and Airbus claims AKL-PPT nonstop can be done

https://www.ifn.news/posts/airbus-a220- ... ification/

SkyVoice wrote:

Interesting. I thought that Aircalin flew these routes, but they don't. I wish them well, especially given the times in which we live.

Aircalin do already fly from Wallis to Noumea and Nadi. The links eastward to Polynesia would be new.

V/F

It’s been a while since I followed Air Calin but they used to operate NOU-NAN-WLS / NOU-WLS-PPT / NOU-PPT - the last one I’m pretty sure operated pre-Covid weekly with an A330; I think NAN-WLS was dropped but I believe WLS-PPT was still around weekly. The pax demand is probably minuscule but Cargo should have made the routes worthwhile. If SB is no longer on the routes, someone should figure out why they couldn’t make it work. If they are still on these routes then there’s no way in hell 2 operators can make it work.

When I first read "Corail", I thought about trains. In mainland France, this used to be a well-known SNCF brand for intercity trains ...

It is French for coral, which is in their logo.

Joelatbsl wrote:

When I first read "Corail", I thought about trains. In mainland France, this used to be a well-known SNCF brand for intercity trains ...

Funny that what I was thinking to.

Corail used to be the branding that SNCF used on their non TGV long distance trains?

richcandy wrote:

Corail used to be the branding that SNCF used on their non TGV long distance trains?

Indeed, from 1975: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corail_(train)

If t his is the livery they go with, its very pretty - - and nice NOT to see another all-white bore.

Here’s their website: https://www.aircorail.com/

According to that, the specific aircraft under consideration are the A220-100 and the E190-E2.

V/F

OK, WF Aviation has finally found a name for their airline project.

Some older WF links from my own "watchlist" (a *.txt file): many have been already posted in the A220 threads. Use translators like Google.
https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news/79985-wallis-futunas-wf-aviation-looks-to-break-monopoly
https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/wallisfutuna/future-compagnie-wf-aviation-interessee-nouvel-airbus-a220-769523.html
https://corporate.southpacificislands.travel/wf-aviation-to-operate-from-wallis/
http://outremers360.com/economie/desserte-aerienne-vers-une-seconde-compagnie-aerienne-a-wallis-et-futuna/
http://mahina-events.com/wf-aviation-un-projet-qui-donne-de-lespoir/?fbclid=IwAR1aMHqdBhnjb5VQNZacSDdWlUwTAtiKBOgSmwrvnvB_CyWcLCJ5FUyvkN4
https://www.aerotelegraph.com/angriff-auf-das-monopol-auf-der-suedseeinsel
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/394249/new-airline-planned-for-wallis-and-futuna

Air Oceania and WF
http://outremers360.com/economie/desserte-aerienne-en-nouvelle-caledonie-airbus-fait-la-promotion-de-son-a220/

Air Tahiti
https://blueswandaily.com/air-tahiti-considering-e195-e2-and-a220-to-expand-international-network/

Please note, Wallis and Futuna are a French oversea department. The airline project is supported in some form by the French government.
So this is the first source, why the WF airline project was started:
https://www.rnz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/378219/wallis-and-futuna-promised-better-international-links

The stop of the A220 in New Caledonia during the Pacific tour was for WF aviation an for Air Oceania.

Air Calin already serves Noumea - Wallis 3 times a week and Nadi - Wallis twice a week. I know there are more Wallisian in New Caledonia (22K) than in Wallis itself (11K) but I can’t imagine the route supporting more than 1 carrier. We shall see.

Air Calin already serves Noumea - Wallis 3 times a week and Nadi - Wallis twice a week. I know there are more Wallisian in New Caledonia (22K) than in Wallis itself (11K) but I can’t imagine the route supporting more than 1 carrier. We shall see.

obelau24 wrote:

It’s been a while since I followed Air Calin but they used to operate NOU-NAN-WLS / NOU-WLS-PPT / NOU-PPT - the last one I’m pretty sure operated pre-Covid weekly with an A330; I think NAN-WLS was dropped but I believe WLS-PPT was still around weekly. The pax demand is probably minuscule but Cargo should have made the routes worthwhile. If SB is no longer on the routes, someone should figure out why they couldn’t make it work. If they are still on these routes then there’s no way in hell 2 operators can make it work.

I think that thats the most information we have to go on in addition to them presenting the tourism numbers of future destinations on their website:

https://www.aircorail.com/les-marches/

From what it seems they are really basing themselves off of tourism, VFR and minimal gov/biz travel between the following destinations. With what you said about Cargo being a big player in this region and specifically on this route do you think we could see them adapt the A220 or E2 to carry cargo as we see on the 737s? If anyone knows of any current cases of A220s/E2s being half passenger/ half-cargo that would be deeply appreciated to be brought up.

In addition according to the following page seems that each of their routes will be flown on a 2-3 weekly basis:

https://www.air-corail.com/votre-compagnie/#!/la-flotte

Could that be too much demand on offer? How many people make up the total of all these destinations?

I thought years ago, didn't AOM have some sort of a Pacific network? I am sure they use to fly into Sydney.

obelau24 wrote:

It’s been a while since I followed Air Calin but they used to operate NOU-NAN-WLS / NOU-WLS-PPT / NOU-PPT - the last one I’m pretty sure operated pre-Covid weekly with an A330; I think NAN-WLS was dropped but I believe WLS-PPT was still around weekly. The pax demand is probably minuscule but Cargo should have made the routes worthwhile. If SB is no longer on the routes, someone should figure out why they couldn’t make it work. If they are still on these routes then there’s no way in hell 2 operators can make it work.

Unless mistaken, Air Calin never flew WLS-PPT, it always has been the direct NOU-PPT.

However, will it be a French Polynesia or French Caledonia based airline ?

Flyingsottsman wrote:

I thought years ago, didn't AOM have some sort of a Pacific network? I am sure they use to fly into Sydney.

AOM flew to SYD but from CDG.
UTA had a Pacific network, not AOM.

nicode wrote:

AOM flew to SYD but from CDG.
UTA had a Pacific network, not AOM.

They didn’t, they flew from ORY. Routing was ORY-CMB-SYD-NOU

And I’m pretty sure at one point they served NOU as a tag on to their PPT service. So ORY-LAX-PPT-NOU

nicode wrote:

However, will it be a French Polynesia or French Caledonia based airline ?

Neither; it will be a Wallis-based airline. It will be interesting to see if they do get going whether they try to take on the service between Wallis and Futuna as well, currently operated by Aircalin in a Twin Otter.

V/F

Funny how their livery looks quite similar to the Hifly A380 "save the coral reefs" livery.



I'm not too sure what to think about that project. Demand between Noumea and Pape'ete is already quite limited (Aircalin have been flying a single weekly PPT-NOU flight for years), and I'm not sure what kind of demand would exist between Wallis, Apia or Nadi and Pape'ete.

In the Pacific, the only big market out of PPT is Auckland. Noumea, Honolulu and Easter Island can only sustain a single weekly flight. Plus Rarotonga (Cook Islands) on Air Tahiti. They're all part of the Polynesian sphere, unlike Wallis or Nadi.

AOMlover wrote:

Funny how their livery looks quite similar to the Hifly A380 "save the coral reefs" livery.

I'm not too sure what to think about that project. Demand between Noumea and Pape'ete is already quite limited (Aircalin have been flying a single weekly PPT-NOU flight for years), and I'm not sure what kind of demand would exist between Wallis, Apia or Nadi and Pape'ete.

In the Pacific, the only big market out of PPT is Auckland. Noumea, Honolulu and Easter Island can only sustain a single weekly flight. Plus Rarotonga (Cook Islands) on Air Tahiti. They're all part of the Polynesian sphere, unlike Wallis or Nadi.

If I’m not mistaken HNL-PPT went twice weekly something like a year ago.

Thibault973 wrote:

nicode wrote:

AOM flew to SYD but from CDG.
UTA had a Pacific network, not AOM.

They didn’t, they flew from ORY. Routing was ORY-CMB-SYD-NOU

And I’m pretty sure at one point they served NOU as a tag on to their PPT service. So ORY-LAX-PPT-NOU

There was a very short lived AOM service ORY-LAX-NOU. I think it continued to SYD after the CMB service ended.

HNL-PPT is/was only twice weekly during the high season.

AOMlover wrote:

They're all part of the Polynesian sphere, unlike Wallis or Nadi.

Both Wallis ('Uvea) and Futuna are Polynesian islands.

Air Corail is now CORALway: https://www.flycoralway.com/#!/organisation-calendrier



A220 cabin concept:



They recently secured their Air Transport License: https://www.ch-aviation.com/portal/news ... iCNaL6y0XA

The livery is nice, but the new name is terrible. Hopefully they drop the "FLY" from the titles. Wish them all the best.