Air Tahiti Nui Adds Seattle To Paris Flight

There is now a new route to Seattle. The airline has some interesting plans for Seattle.

Air Tahiti Nui expands Seattle service to Paris

A new Boeing 787-9 is being used on the Papeete and Seattle flights. There was a plan to suspend the route between June 12 and September 4. The airline has to prioritize routes because it only has four Boeing 787-9s.

The Papeete to Seattle route has been restored, but it has been extended for another year. There will be a new Papeete route from Seattle to Paris in the summer of 2020. The schedule for the service will be listed by Aero Routes.

The Papeete to Seattle departure is at 12:1PM and the Seattle to Paris departure is at 3:05PM.

The Paris to Seattle flight arrives at 1:20PM and the Seattle to Papeete flight arrives at 10:00PM.

It is not currently possible to book just the Seattle to Paris route on Air Tahiti Nui. I think that will change, as the airline should have pick-up rights there, since Tahiti is part of France.

What’s the logic for Air Tahiti Nui’s Seattle to Paris flight?

French Polynesia is popular with tourists from Metropolitan France, but it is not as popular on the other side of the globe. One stop service between Papeete and Paris is only offered by Air Polynesia.

Los Angeles has been the location of this route for a long time.

The Papeete to Los Angeles flight left at 11:45PM and arrived at 10:35AM.

The Paris to Los Angeles departure is at 13:05PM and the Los Angeles to Papeete departure is at 1:45PM.

Air Tahiti Nui is redirecting some service to Paris from Los Angeles.

• During this period next summer, Air Tahiti Nui will reduce Papeete to Paris via Los Angeles service from 7x weekly to 5x weekly, with the addition of 2x weekly Papeete to Paris via Seattle service
• I would assume that this reflects that Air Tahiti Nui is seeing strong demand for its new Seattle flight; obviously a significant number of passengers on these US flights are simply connecting enroute to Paris, so the question is how the airline can most profitably fill the other seats between the United States and either Papeete or Paris
• The two routes (via Los Angeles or Seattle) are roughly the same length, as they’re within 35 miles of one another
• Air Tahiti Nui has a partnership with Alaska Airlines, so perhaps the airline can get some feed for its Seattle to Paris service

A 2x weekly flight between Seattle and Paris for a few months won't do much to build up awareness in the market.

Bottom line

The Seattle service seems to be doing well. The airline had originally planned to suspend Seattle service in the summer of 2023. The service will be expanded to Paris in September of 2023.

I wonder if we will see the Paris service split between Los Angeles and Seattle in the future.

What do you think about the new Seattle to Paris route.