United Airlines will resume flights from San Francisco to Papeete this week - four months after France halted flights to and from French Polynesia because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Photo: 123rf
The French Polynesian tourism minister Nicole Bouteau said there will be three flights a week, allowing an expansion of quarantine-free travel for vaccinated people.
She said Hawaiian Air is expected to restart flying to Tahiti after halting its service from Honolulu at the start of the pandemic last year.
According to her, Air Tahiti Nui will ramp up services to Paris via Vancouver.
Bouteau said talks were under way to re-route flights between Paris and Papeete via Los Angeles.
In July, French Polynesia became the first South Pacific tourist destination to open the borders for quarantine-free travel.
The move led to a resurgence of the coronavirus, infecting more than 18,000.
Hao reopens for air travel
Commercial air services between the French Polynesian atoll of Hao and Tahiti are due to resume tomorrow after safety concerns closed Hao airport last week.
According to the government, the firefighter truck had broken down, prompting the suspension of air travel for safety reasons.
A special flight was organised yesterday to fly a team to Hao to repair the vehicle.
Hao was a key base for the French military which built a three-kilometre runway there as part of its nuclear weapons testing programme in the South Pacific.
The airport is now earmarked for a Chinese project to fly fresh fish from a fish farm planned in Hao's lagoon.
Hao atoll Photo: Google Maps