The climate will quickly be grey and drizzly in Seattle and the remainder of the Pacific Northwest, which suggests it is the proper time to flee on a warm-weather trip. Air Tahiti Nui’s inaugural flight from Seattle to Tahiti on Wednesday morning introduced with it visions of sunny climate, pristine seashores and romantic overwater bungalow resorts.
The French Polynesian flag service arrived at Seattle-Tacoma Worldwide Airport (SEA) airport with a water cannon salute. Whereas the workers was cleansing, refueling and readying the aircraft for its return journey to Tahiti, passengers and friends loved a festive celebration. The occasion included a ribbon-cutting ceremony preceded by quick speeches by officers from Seattle, Tahiti, the Port of Seattle and Air Tahiti Nui. After that, an exciting Tahitian dance by a Polynesian efficiency group Nonosina Polynesia made it clear to the complete terminal that this was an important day.
Air Tahiti Nui will fly one in all its 4 787-9 Dreamliners, which the airline calls its “Tahitian Dreamliners,” twice weekly between SEA and Faaa Worldwide Airport (PPT) — which sits just a few miles from Papeete on the island of Tahiti.
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Associated: A overview of Air Tahiti Nui in premium financial system
Flight TN51 will depart Seattle every Wednesday and Sunday at 12:40 p.m. and arrive in Tahiti at 7:10 p.m. Flight TN52 from Tahiti will depart for Seattle every Tuesday and Saturday at 10 p.m. and land at 10:25 a.m. the following day. All instances are native. Scheduled journey time is 9 hours and 35 minutes from Seattle to Papeete, and 9 hours and 25 minutes from Papeete to Seattle.
In the course of the gate-side ceremony, Lance Lyttle — the managing director of aviation for the Port of Seattle — famous that Seattle is Air Tahiti Nui’s second U.S. gateway after Los Angeles. It is also the airline’s fifth vacation spot worldwide. “I do know I communicate for a lot of Seattleites after I say I look ahead to visiting among the world’s most legendary locations, akin to Tahiti, Bora Bora and Moorea,” Lyttle mentioned. He additionally famous that along with bringing a brand new service and a brand new direct path to the airport, the Air Tahiti Nui flight has a optimistic financial affect: “It brings plenty of jobs to the area and to the town.”
Associated: What it is like touring to Tahiti proper now
With Air Tahiti Nui’s Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner parked simply outdoors the window, airline CEO Michel Monvoisin mentioned he was honored to “convey this stunning chicken again to its hometown” and to be in Seattle to have fun the inauguration of the Seattle-to-Tahiti route.
“It is an opportunity for North American vacationers to find the great thing about the … islands of Tahiti, which function the background to the various wonders to find, landscapes to discover and recollections to create,” Monvoisin mentioned.
Mathieu Béchonnet, president and managing director of Air Tahiti Nui, mentioned the airline has been providing flights from Los Angeles to Tahiti and onward to Paris for a few years. The airline had been looking for one other gateway in North America.
He mentioned Seattle not solely presents the identical time zone as Los Angeles, but it surely additionally has “a stage of wealth suitable with (this) form of a high-end vacation spot.”
Whereas Hawaii has been the standard go-to island vacation spot for Seattleites, Béchonnet says Tahiti is a wholly totally different expertise. “The … islands make it actually a spot the place you’ll disconnect. I’m not saying you may’t disconnect in Hawaii, however in Tahiti, in French Polynesia, you’ll really feel your self immersed in a paradise,” he mentioned.
The Tahitian Dreamliners and Air Tahiti Nui’s Alaska Airways partnership
Air Tahiti Nui’s 787-9 Dreamliners have three cabins: Moana financial system (232 seats in a 3-3-3 configuration), premium financial system (32 seats in a 2-3-2 configuration) and enterprise class (30 seats in a 2-2-2 association). In every cabin, seats are upholstered in ocean blues, with brightly coloured pillows and blankets including to the tropical really feel all through.
To assist set the Tahitian tone, passengers obtain a tiare flower (a Tahitian gardenia) at boarding. That flower can be seen on the tail of every of the airline’s Dreamliners.
The airline’s hard-to-miss livery contains three shades of blue impressed by the ocean, the lagoon and the skies over Tahiti; it additionally contains a sequence of tattoo patterns representing a manta ray, an albatross, ocean waves, a fishhook and a Tiki eye.
Air Tahiti Nui and Alaska Airways have a codeshare partnership, and the 2 airways’ frequent flyer applications enable passengers to earn and redeem miles on all flights operated by the codeshare. Alaska Airways’ clients can earn or use their Mileage Plan miles when touring with Air Tahiti Nui. Equally, Air Tahiti Nui’s clients are actually in a position to make use of their Membership Tiare miles in Alaska Airways’ community.
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Along with the Seattle-to-Tahiti flight, Air Tahiti Nui flies to Tahiti from Los Angeles. That direct route can be served by Air France and, beginning in December 2022, Delta Air Strains, which is able to start providing thrice-weekly flights.
If you’re focused on reserving this flight, there may be presently widespread availability… even in enterprise class utilizing Aadvantage or Alaska miles.
