Air Tahiti Nui has unveiled plans to extend its existing twice-weekly service from Papeete (PPT) in French Polynesia to Seattle Airport (SEA) to continue to Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The new SEA-CDG leg will be sold as a stand-alone service, with Air Tahiti taking advantage of its status as a French carrier to connect the South Pacific, the Pacific Northwest, and Europe in one route.

Going all the way home

Air Tahiti Nui is the flag carrier of French Polynesia, a group of scenic islands in the South Pacific, and a major attraction for tourists globally. However, as an overseas territory of France, it holds the right to fly to the mainland as well, allowing it to connect to Paris as well. The airline is doing exactly this with its new Papeete-Seattle-Paris route, unveiled today.

The new service kicks off on June 13th, just as summer holiday travel begins its highest point, and will become a permanent, year-round fixture, using the Boeing 787-9. Operating-twice weekly, the flight is an extension of the existing Papeete/Faa'a International Airport (PPT) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) routing, carrying the same flight number as well. The flight will take the following schedule, all times local:

  • TN58: Departs PPT at 23:35 and lands in SEA at 12:00 (+1 day) on Monday and Friday (9 hours and 25 minutes)
  • TN58: Departs SEA at 14:30 and reaches Paris CDG at 09:00 (+1 day) on Tuesday and Saturday (9 hours and 30 minutes)
  • TN57: Leaves CDG at 12:05 and lands in SEA at 13:20 on Wednesday and Sunday (10 hours and 15 minutes)
  • TN57: Leaves SEA at 15:20 and arrives home in PPT at 21:50 on Wednesday and Sunday (9 hours and 30 minutes)

Here's the route map, showing the distances on the 4,784-mile route from Tahiti to Seattle and the 5,016-mile trip from there to Paris.

Route Map
Photo: GCMap

The routing is similar to the one Air Tahiti Nui and Air France use on their PPT-Los Angeles-CDG services, trying to maximize passenger numbers en route to Europe. French bee, a carrier based out of Paris Orly, breaks its long journey in San Francisco instead, ensuring the South Pacific islands are well connected to the US and Europe.

Get the latest aviation news straight to your inbox: Sign up for our newsletters today.

Going head-to-head

While Air Tahiti Nui faced no competition on its PPT-SEA route, that won't be the case for the lucrative Paris market. Both Delta Air Lines and Air France, SkyTeam members, service the route currently and won't look forward to another competitor. Air France flies five times weekly in June, while Delta will fly daily, while Air Tahiti will only do so twice. While the market will remain focused on those connecting from French Polynesia, low fares mean you could see some jump on this service instead.

Air france Boeing 777-300(ER) F-GSQI (2)
Photo: Vincenzo Pace I Simple Flying.

While Air Tahiti Nui is not an alliance member, it does have a deep partnership with American Airlines, which extends to earning and redeeming AAdvantage miles as well. Expect to see AA's codeshare number on this service soon, another great source of traffic for the airline in the future.

  • New Seattle-Tacoma International SkyBridge Taken From the Air
    Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    SEA/KSEA
    Country:
    United States
    CEO:
    Lance Lyttle
    Passenger Count :
    20,061,507 (2020)
    Runways :
    16L/34R - 3,627m (11,901ft) | 16C/34C - 2,873m (9,426ft) | 16R/34L - 2,591m (8,500ft)
  • CDG construction
    Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport
    IATA/ICAO Code:
    CDG/LFPG
    Country:
    France
    CEO:
    Augustin de Romanet
    Passenger Count :
    26,196,575 (2021)
    Runways :
    08L/26R - 4,215m (13,533ft) | 08R/26L - 2,700m (8,858ft) | 09L/27R - 2,700m (8,858ft) | 09R/27L - 4,200m (13,780ft)
    Terminals:
    Terminal 1 | Terminal 2 | Terminal 3