Two South Pacific airlines have cancelled charter flights to China. Both Aircalin and Air Tahiti Nui had flights scheduled to China last weekend to mark the Lunar New Year. Both were cancelled at short notice.

The cancelled services were not attributed to the coronavirus outbreak. Initially, there were reports of documentation problems. There has since been some clarification around that.

Air Tahiti Nui says China discourages charter services

Air Tahiti Nui is headquartered in Tahiti, French Polynesia. It is a small airline that flies to a handful of international destinations with a fleet of four Boeing 787-9s.

French Polynesia is an approved travel destination for Chinese tourists but there are no regularly scheduled direct airline services. In 2014, both China and French Polynesia gave the tick of approval for airlines from both countries to fly between Tahiti, Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Last week, Tahiti’s Radio 1 reported that last weekend’s Air Tahiti Nui charter service was canceled because the airline couldn’t secure landing rights at either Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou.

Radio 1 reported that the Air Tahiti Nui failed to provide the documentation needed by Chinese authorities.

But the boss of Air Tahiti Nui went on Radio 1 this week and said the issue was due to slot constraints rather than documentation problems.

According to a report yesterday on New Zealand’s RNZ, Air Tahiti Nui ‘s Michel Monvoison said fast-growing air traffic around the three Chinese airports Air Tahiti Nui had access to was “stretching” China’s systems.

Mr Monvoison said China needed landing applications to be filed within 30 days of arrival. This was too short a timeline to be feasible. RNZ also reports that Mr Monvoision told Radio 1 that he thought China was discouraging charter services.

Simple Flying has approached Air Tahiti Nui to clarify this. The airline is yet to respond to our inquiry.

A similar problem for Aircalin

Four thousand kilometers west, New Caledonia based Aircalin also canceled a charter flight to China last weekend. Aircalin is a slightly larger airline than Air Tahiti Nui, with more aircraft and flying to more destinations.

The airline was due to fly to Tianjin to pick up 282 passengers. The reason given was that Aircalin failed to get the correct documentation.

Like French Polynesia, New Caledonia is on China’s approved countries list. But the country has a low profile in China, attracting just 400 Chinese tourists in 2016. One reason for this is the absence of direct air services between the two countries.

New Caledonia hopes to boost Chinese tourist numbers tenfold by 2025. Aircalin has already run a couple of charter services from Chinese cities such as Hangzhou.

Unlike Air Tahiti Nui, Aircalin hasn’t spoken out publicly about the charter cancellation. Simple Flying has approached Aircalin asking for further information. They have not yet responded.

But on the surface, it looks like Aircalin has been stymied by the same issue that grounded Air Tahiti Nui’s charter – unreasonable timelines.

Cancellations not due to coronavirus

It is important to emphasize that neither cancellation is due to the coronavirus outbreak. The cancellations occurred before the outbreak got traction.

But the outbreak is putting the brakes on outbound Chinese tourism. The Chinese government has since suspended all tour groups and the sale of flight and hotel packages. That’s not good news for small tourism-dependent nations like New Caledonia and Tahiti.

Between coronavirus and the perceived intransigence of China when it comes to encouraging small nations developing inbound Chinese tourism, it might be time for Tahiti and New Caledonia to look elsewhere in North Asia. Their planes might get a warmer welcome in places like Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.