Faced with political and social turmoil, which is now being compounded by a full-blown economic crisis in New Caledonia, the overseas territory's airline.., AirCalinis trying to survive. It has therefore decided to restructure its network in order to adapting to current realities. Starting with the cancellation of its Noumea-Tokyo Narita flight. The total absence of Japanese passengers, frightened by events in the territory, explains this decision.
Japan's withdrawal also explains the closure of Air France flights to Naritawhich was used as a transfer airport to Paris on the France-New Caledonia route. Passengers wishing to fly to Japan can still do so via Singapore or Sydney.
Singapore remains Asia's central hub for all connections. Not only to Paris, thanks to a agreement with Singapore Airlinesbut also to pick up an Air France flight. Singapore will be linked to Nouméa by four weekly flights this winter.
But the biggest news is the confirmation of the launch of a direct flight between Paris-CDG and Nouméa. via Bangkok. The route will be inaugurated on 11 December with an Airbus A330-neo aircraft. The 26-hour flight includes a two-hour technical stopover in Bangkok. The aircraft will offer a capacity of 291 seats divided between an economy class of 244 seats, a premium economy class of 21 seats and a Hibiscus business class of 26 seats.
No traffic rights with Bangkok for the time being
At a press conference in Noumea, Arnaud Gervais, AirCalin's Commercial Director, said that the route via Thailand was the shortest possible. in the current geopolitical context since it provides a 24-hour flight between the two countries. However, the stopover is technical, meaning that passengers will not be able to travel from Paris to Bangkok or from Nouméa to Bangkok. At least temporarily, airline management hopes.
In fact, AirCalin has begun the process of obtaining the traffic rights with Thailand. This should not pose any major problems, as the Kingdom is rather liberal when it comes to traffic rights, including for routes operated under 5th freedom rights. It is therefore likely that AirCalin will be able to carry passengers between the three ports of call from early 2025.
AirCalin was originally scheduled to arrive in Paris in 2026. But events in New Caledonia have prompted the airline to speed up this arrival, as it is key to the carrier's survival. The Bangkok stopover should also help to make the route profitable, as demand for flights to Thailand from France remains very strong.
