Air Tahiti Nui has ushed in the end of an era by operating its last Airbus A340 flight. This is significant as now the airline has completed a transition from an all-Airbus fleet to an all-Boeing fleet.

Air Tahiti Nui has said goodbye to the A340. Photo: Eddie Maloney from North Las Vegas, USA via Flickr

What are the details?

Air Tahiti Nui, the international carrier of the small Pacific country, retired it's last A340-300 earlier this week. The airline has completed the transition into an all-Boeing fleet with four Boeing 787-9s now in service. And that is all it has; the airline is rather small and only operates these four aircraft.

At its peak, the airline operated six A340s to destinations such as New York, Sydney, and Osaka. Now it has a smaller fleet, the former destinations have been eliminated.

The airline focuses on holidaymaker travel to French Polynesia with the aircraft putting down some impressive distance (Papeete to Los Angeles to Paris as a fifth freedom route). With the 787 Dreamliner, they really could copy Fiji Airways (who operate the rival Airbus A350 aircraft) and cover trans-pacific voyages from Los Angeles to Sydney (which they used to fly to).

Route map for Air Tahiti Nui. Photo: Air Tahiti Nui

This change from an all-Airbus A340 fleet to an All-Boeing 787 fleet was actually rather rapid, with the first aircraft being swapped out in 2018 (from the initial 2015 order) and the last just this week. This is actually super impressive and gives credit to Boeing who was able to pump out these aircraft so fast.

Air Tahiti
The new Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliner at the Paris Air Show. Photo: Matti Bloom via Flickr

What is their new Dreamliner like?

Simple Flying covered in great detail the new Dreamliner fleet when the first was delivered last year.

The aircraft can hold up to 30 business class passengers, 32 premium passengers, and 232 economy passengers. However, as reported, due to the addition of the 4.5 premium economy rows, the Boeing 787s will actually carry four fewer passengers than the A340s.

Economy class is in a 3-3-3 configuration with 31 inches of pitch, with a 12" entertainment screen. For the first time, Air Tahiti Nui will also offer a premium economy class with 38 inches of pitch for those wanting a bit more but without the upgrade to business class. This class also gets one more inch bigger TV screens up to 13".

Speaking of business, the Dreamliners come with a new business class that promises great things. With new lie-flat beds, this is now the best way to get to Tahiti. The configuration of 2-2-2 however (to get that 30 number) means that not every passenger gets direct aisle access, and from the photos, it appears that there is little privacy onboard with no dividers or suites.

Air Tahiti Nui
The new business class. Photo: Air Tahiti Nui

And where can you fly on this new aircraft? Any route, as it's now their only aircraft.

What do you think? Are you excited to fly on the new Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliners? Let us know in the comments.