Air Tahiti Nui Sends 1 Boeing 787 To Arizona Storage
Air One of Air Tahiti Nui’s Boeing 787 Dreamliners is destined for storage at Goodyear, Arizona.
Eagle-eyed planespotters noted the first Dreamliner landed in Arizona last week.
The first Air Tahiti Nui Dreamliner landed in Goodyear past Tuesday.
According to RadarBox.com, FOMUA Fakarava, a Boeing 787-9 just over two years old, departed Papeete for Los Angeles on February 13.
Cooed its engine
The Dreamliner then cooled its engines at Los Angeles for ten days before departing to Goodyear on Tuesday.
Before the February 13 flight, FOMUA’s last tracked flight was on January 26.
The aircraft operated TN111 between Los Angeles and Papeete that day.
Air Tahiti offered Simple Flying the following statement regarding its future plans:
Air Tahiti Nui continues to work with its industry in French Polynesia, including the Tahitian Government and major International market partners in preparing for the re-opening of the destination in the next several months.
In order to minimise the possibility of various strains of COVID-19, and to further reduce the small numbers of active cases in the islands, travel for the purpose of tourism has been suspended, as is the case for France itself and all of its overseas territories.
Reason
According to Mathieu Bechonnet, president and managing director of Air Tahiti Nui, the various
Government travel restrictions in place, including:
■ the closure of New Zealand and Australia,
■restrictio■s for entry to Japan, and
■ the French travel ban on tourism, has required that the airline reduce its flying time and flight schedules.
Thus, flights to New Zealand, codeshare to Australia and flights to Japan have not been operating for the past 12 months.
Reduced frequency
US and Paris flights have been operating on a reduced frequency from July 15, 2020 – February 14, 2021.
Given this reduction in activity and the uncertainty regarding opening dates, especially for New Zealand, and Australia, the airline has made the decision to store one of its Boeing 787-9 aircraft in Phoenix, Arizona.
While the plane could have remained in Papeete and been cycled though the schedule for some flying, due to a variety of reasons including engineering, climate conditions, and reduced flying hours, it is preferable to store the aircraft in a dry environment.
This was done on February 23, 2021 on a LAX ferry flight. Mr Bechonnet went on to add that the airline has absolutely no plans to place any other aircraft in such storage.
Upturn
The airline noted an upturn in business and bookings from the North American market and increased consumer confidence with the rollout of vaccines in the United States.
Additionally, the Airline enjoyed strong travel in December on the Paris route.
As such the airline is planning to operate daily flights to Los Angeles with onward connections to Paris from April or May.
The re-opening of its Narita service is planned next, especially with the Tokyo summer Olympics.
Operating this schedule will require three aircraft, which the Airline and its stakeholders are fully committed to.