Air Tahiti Nui Launches Inaugural Seattle-Paris Service
Originally published on Airways
On June 13, 2023, Air Tahiti Nui (TN) inaugurated its service between Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) and Paris’ Charles de Gaulle International Airport (CDG).
Travelers can fly between Papeete International Airport (PPT) and Paris via Seattle. The new route builds on Air TN’s codeshare partnership with Alaska Airlines (AS), adding more destinations to its network. Through the codeshare partnership, passengers can connect to and from Seattle to almost 100 cities in North America.
Air Tahiti Nui became the first and only airline to offer flights between Seattle and French Polynesia in October. Now, the airline is connecting Seattle to Paris on a new year-round, twice-weekly service. The airline became the first and only carrier offering nonstop flights between Seattle and Paris.
Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787 Dreamliner crew. Photo: Air Tahiti Nui
Route Schedule
A nonstop flight from Papeete to Paris is out of the range for TN’s fleet of Boeing 787-9s. Instead, the airline will stop in Seattle and then travel to France transatlantic.
The route from PPT to SEA is 4,784 miles, and then another 5,016 miles from SEA to CDG. Although a nonstop flight is not possible due to the airline’s French registration, the plane can fly passengers from the French Polynesian to mainland France with a stop in Seattle.
The new twice-weekly service will operate on Tuesdays and Saturdays using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Flight TN58 will depart on Mondays and Fridays from PPT at 11:35 PM and arrive at SEA at noon the following day. Flight TN58 then departs on Tuesdays and Saturdays from SEA at 2:30 PM and arrives at CDG at 9:00 AM the following day.
The return flight TN57 will depart on Wednesdays and Sundays from CDG at 12:05 PM and arrive at SEA at 1:20 PM. Flight TN57 will depart from SEA on Wednesdays and Sundays from SEA at 3:20 PM and return at PPT at 9:50 PM the same day.
Air Tahiti Nui Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Photo: Air Tahiti Nui
Air Tahiti Nui and SEA
Air Tahiti Nui’s new service comes as SEA airport recently opened a new international arrivals facility making travel through SEA efficient for international travelers. The new terminal is four times the size of the current facility. The new flight to Paris is the 11th new international service that has been launched at SEA since the pandemic.
Based in Papeete, Air Tahiti Nui links French Polynesia with four continents and is the flag carrier of the French Polynesian. The airline operates daily nonstop flights between Tahiti and Los Angeles and is the second airline to operate nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Paris. The airline services destinations in 10 countries using its fleet of four Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners.
Arif Ghouse, Chief Operating Officer at SEA, commented, “We are very excited Air Tahiti Nui is launching their second new international service from SEA, only eight months since we first welcomed their initial launch from the Pacific Northwest to Tahiti.”
Air Tahiti Nui’s Managing Director, Mathieu Bechonnet, commented, “The opening of the new Tahiti-Seattle direct service was already an exciting achievement for Air Tahiti Nui. Beginning this new service to Paris this summer was a way for us to offer even more options for our client base in Tahiti to reach Paris while also allowing the Seattle region to enjoy more options to explore France and Europe.”
Adding, “Our decision to move this to a year-round service is made possible today thanks to the great response we are getting from the market. We are thrilled about the new business opportunities this represents for us and the dynamism it brings to our operations.”
