Air Tahiti
| Air Tahiti | |
|---|---|
|
|
| IATA code : | VT |
| ICAO code : | VTA |
| Call sign : | AIR TAHITI |
| Founding: | 1953 (as RAI) |
| Seat: |
Papeete , French Polynesia
|
| Turnstile : | |
| Home airport : | Tahiti airport |
| IATA prefix code : | 135 |
| Management: | Marcel Galenon ( CEO ) |
| Number of employees: | 1,014 (2012) |
| Passenger volume: | 732,000 (2012) |
| Fleet size: | 10 |
| Aims: | National and international |
| Website: | www.airtahiti.com |
Air Tahiti is a French Polynesian regional airline based in Papeete and based at Tahiti Airport . Along with Air Tahiti Nui, it is considered to be the most important airline in the overseas territory .
history
In 1943 the United States Marine Corps built a military airfield on Bora Bora , which was opened for civil use from 1950. Locals entrepreneurs founded the same year a first airline called Air Tahiti that their operation with an amphibious aircraft of type G-44 Grumman between Bora Bora and Tahiti recorded. Because the machine turned out to be too small, the French territorial administration provided the company with a Grumman G-73 amphibious aircraft in 1951 . The company also flew to the Gambier Islands from June 25, 1953 and also to Nuku Hiva ( Marquesas ) from October 1953 .
In July 1953, the Régie Aérienne Interinsulaire (RAI for short; ICAO code : RI) was founded in the region, a state-owned company that was subordinate to the French Ministry of Transport. The territorial administration then withdrew the traffic rights from Air Tahiti , whereupon this company was dissolved. The state-owned RAI took over the Grumman G-73 previously loaned to Air Tahiti and at the same time commissioned the private French airline Transports Aériens Intercontinentaux (TAI) to continue flight operations between the islands. The order flights took place in the RAI brand identity. Shortly afterwards, the state-owned company put two Consolidated PBY "Catalina" into service, with which the route network was expanded to Tubuai and Raivavae ( Austral Islands ) in 1955 . In May 1958, the company acquired a Short Sandringham flying boat as a replacement for the "Catalina" which had crashed in February 1958 (see incidents) . From October 15, 1958, the machine was initially used mainly between Bora Bora and Tahiti.
After TAI had set up a long-haul route between Nouméa ( New Caledonia ) and Bora Bora in October 1958 , it acquired a majority stake in RAI, which was given the slightly changed name Réseau Aérien Interinsulaire as a result of its privatization . After the completion of the airport in Papeete , RAI was able to use Douglas DC-4s rented from their parent company between Tahiti and Bora Bora in 1960 . The routes from Papeete to Huahine , Raiatea , Rangiroa and Tikehau that existed at that time were still flown with the Short Sandringham. On October 1, 1963, the airlines TAI and UAT merged, making RAI a subsidiary of the newly created Union de Transports Aériens (UTA). At that time, the regional network continued to include six destinations, but now Moorea was served instead of Tikehau.
At the beginning of 1970, UTA renamed its subsidiary RAI to Air Polynésie (ICAO code: VT). The company then operated two Douglas DC-4s, a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 "Twin Otter" and the Short Sandringham, which was withdrawn on September 29, 1970. In 1971 the company carried 140,000 passengers. As a replacement for the outdated Douglas DC-4, Air Polynésie acquired two used Fokker F-27-200s in the spring of 1972 . These machines were in turn replaced in October 1974 by three used Fairchild F-27A . The route network starting from Papeete included twelve destinations in the same year. In the late 1970s, Air Polynésie operated a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander , a DHC-6-100, a DHC-6-300, three Fairchild F-27A and an F-27J.
UTA sold its holdings in Air Polynésie in 1986. 75 percent of the company shares were taken over by private investors and 25 percent by the territorial administration of the overseas territory. The company was then given its current name Air Tahiti in January 1987 . After the change of ownership and name change, the fleet was completely renewed and the existing machines were replaced by modern ATR aircraft from 1989. The route network was subsequently expanded again. In addition to the ATR 42, Air Tahiti decided early on for the enlarged ATR 72 aircraft . The older ATR machines have now been replaced by more modern versions. In 2006 the company had a seat load factor of 67.3% and employed more than 1,030 people. Until 2006, the company had a Dornier Do 228 .
All aircraft and passengers arriving and departing from Tahiti Airport are handled by Air Tahiti . In 2012, this affected 1,295 flights and included check-in, all ground services, catering and technical support.
By June 2020, the state's share in the airline had fallen to 14 percent.
Destinations
Air Tahiti serves 46 destinations in the Polynesian Islands and Rarotonga in the Cook Islands from Tahiti Airport . At the end of June 2020, the cancellation of 26 unprofitable routes was announced.
fleet
_ATR.42-600_Air_Tahiti_TLS_23SEP13_(9904109214).jpg)
As of February 2020, Air Tahiti's fleet consists of ten aircraft with an average age of 4.6 years:
| Aircraft type | number | ordered | Remarks | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ATR 42-600 | 2 | 48 | ||
| ATR 72-600 | 8th | 68 | ||
| total | 10 | 0 |
Previously deployed aircraft
In the past, ATR 72-500 aircraft were also used.
Basic data
Traffic figures
In 2012 Air Tahiti carried a total of 732,000 passengers, of which around 231,000 were intercontinental passengers. In addition, a total of 2,066 flights were carried out for a total of 22,689 hours.
Owners and holdings
As of January 2014, Air Tahiti was held by private investors to 33.5%, French Polynesia to 13.7%, Socredo Bank to 13.4%, employees to 8.4% and other shareholders.
The company owned 99.9% of the shares in Air Moorea , which ceased operations in 2010. In addition , Air Archipels, which operates in business aviation , is part of the Air Tahiti Group with two Beechcraft King Airs.
Incidents
- On February 19, 1958 crashed Consolidated PBY ( license plate : F-OAVV ) RAI off the coast of Raiatea into the sea. The pilots had initiated the curve for the final approach at too low a height, causing the right wing to hit the water. 15 of the 26 occupants were killed in the accident.
- In October 1960 a Consolidated PBY (registration number: F-OAYD ) of the RAI landed very hard in a splash down off Raiatea. The machine was towed to Tahiti for repair, but written off as a total loss due to the amount of damage.
- On April 18, 1991, a Dornier Do 228-212 (registration number: F-OHAB ) of Air Tahiti had an accident while approaching Nuku Hiva airport . Of the 22 people on board, twelve survived (see also Air Tahiti flight 805 ) .
See also
Web links
- Air Tahiti website (French, English)
- Photos of Air Tahiti on airliners.net
Individual evidence
- ↑ airlineupdate.com - Airlines in French Polynesia: Air Tahiti ( memento of October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English), accessed on October 24, 2013
- ↑ a b c d airtahiti.com - Group missions (English), accessed December 18, 2014
- ↑ a b Air Tahiti, History of the company (in English), accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ a b c Queensland Air Museum, Short p.25 Sandringham Mk 7, F-OBIP , accessed August 15, 2017
- ↑ timetableimages.com - RAI flight plan in 1963
- ↑ Flight International, March 26, 1970 (in English), accessed August 25, 2017
- ^ Flight International, March 23, 1972 (in English), accessed August 25, 2017
- ^ Flight International, October 17, 1974 (in English), accessed August 25, 2017
- ^ Air Polynésie, 1974 flight plan, route network map , accessed on August 25, 2017
- ↑ JP airline-fleets international, Edition 79
- ↑ Flight International, April 1, 1979 (in English), accessed August 25, 2017
- ↑ a b Air Tahiti cuts anger government. RNZ, June 24, 2020.
- ↑ airtahiti.com - All our destinations (English), accessed on March 24, 2018
- ^ Air Tahiti Fleet Details and History. Retrieved February 23, 2020 .
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report RAI, Consolidated PBY, F-OAVV in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- ^ Tahiti Heritage, Un second accident (in French), accessed August 24, 2017
- ↑ Aircraft accident data and report of the accident of April 18, 1991 in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
