How has traffic been since the reopening of French Polynesia?
Mathieu Bechonnet - There is a very strong activity and a bounce very significant since the reopening of the Polynesian islands to international visitors. Polynesia is in the process of returning to its pre-Covid levels, with pricing practices that are equal to, or even better than, Covid. It's important that tourist demand is there, because the local market is very limited. We're talking about 250,000 inhabitants and 40,000 passengers from France.
How is the airline offering shaping up?
M.B. - The majors are rediscovering tourism markets that are highly resilient to the economic climate. And Tahiti is one of them, because it is a high-end, selective market. We have seen the rise of Air France and United Airlines, both of which have gone from three to five weekly frequencies. On In Los Angeles, Air Tahiti Nui is a partner of American Airlines..
Air Tahiti Nui is also stepping up its services to the United States with the forthcoming opening of a flight to Seattle. Why such a choice?
M.B. - There are plenty of reasons to position yourself on the west coast of the United States. California's economy is still very strong, particularly with high-tech and the GAFAs. The dollar is also high. After Los Angeles and San Francisco, Seattle ticks all the boxes. It's one of the cities with the highest purchasing power in the United States, and the local market is very keen on sun destinations. In fact, we will be the only airline to serve the Pacific except, of course, Hawaii. The service will be operated with our partner Alaska Airlines, whose Seattle hub offers connections to 90 cities in the US and Western Canada. This new route will not generate any additional fixed costs, as it will be operated with an aircraft from our existing fleet.
So what is your flight schedule for both the US and Paris?
M.B. - With the opening of Seattle in October, a total of 15 frequencies per week to the USAincluding two weekly flights to Tahiti-Seattle. I consider this to be a real success for a small company like ours. Seattle is likely to be a permanent destination in our schedule. In Paris, we showed our consistency during the pandemic. Regional players and passengers alike are grateful for our reliability. That's why we're planning to five to seven weekly flights depending on the season. We are in fact surprised by the resilience of the tourist and VFR market, particularly in Premium class. The front cabin is the one that fills up fastest, with prices that are perfectly satisfactory for our economic equilibrium.
Are you resuming your services to the Pacific or Japan?
M.B. - We have just resumed the Papeete-Auckland route with onward flights to Australia with Qantas. The Japan remains complicated with travel restrictions which continue. The problem is that, because of the very lucrative North American market at the moment, the airlines are not really keeping up with demand on a Tahiti-Asia/Pacific route.
How do you see prices developing over the next few months?
M.B. - Like everyone else, we are suffering from rising fuel prices and inflation. There's also another factor linked to Polynesia: flight congestion. This also has an impact on prices, particularly in Premium class. However, in classic economy class on the France-Tahiti route, prices are down slightly due to the very large supply on the market compared with demand.
Do you have any new services?
M.B. - The lifting of restrictions has enabled us to offer a service in line with the reputation ofAir Tahiti Nui. We will now be communicating more about our environmental efforts. It's a subject on which we want to highlight all our initiatives, particularly in 2023.
