Pacific

New Tahiti airline challenges terms of operation

18:22 pm on 29 March 2019

The planned launch of a new domestic airline in French Polynesia has been back in court.

Photo: lenor/123RF

The carrier Islands Airline wants its operating licence to exclude a phrase according to which the government determines the conditions of operation.

According to Radio 1, an expert opinion suggests the government's powers are too broad.

The airline obtained its licence last October only after the administrative court in Papeete ruled that the government's inaction amounted to an attempt to protect a monopoly held by Air Tahiti.

Earlier, the transport minister said he feared the new airline would fly its jets only to the most lucrative destinations and leaving public service flights to be provided by Air Tahiti.

Islands Airline is a project of a New Caledonia-based businessman Bill Ravel who also founded Air Calin.

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