Air
France and Air Tahiti Nui, the international airline of Tahiti, filed
documents today with the U.S. De-partment of Transportation seeking
approval of and antitrust immunity for alliance agreements, including
a bilateral joint-venture agreement. When approved, the
joint-venture would allow Air France and Air Tahiti Nui to cooperate
and coordinate on services between Paris-Charles de Gaulle
International Airport (CDG) and Los Angeles International Airport
(LAX).
“Upon
approval, our codeshare relationship and joint-venture with Air
Tahiti Nui would give our customers yet more options when traveling
between Paris and Los Angeles. We look forward to working with Air
Tahiti Nui to provide our customers more options and easy access when
traveling between Paris and Los Angeles” said Dominique Patry Air
France’s Vice President for International Affairs & Alliances. “The joint schedules of Air France and Air Tahiti Nui will provide our customers with more frequencies between Los Angeles and Paris, and will link Air Tahiti Nui to the Air France network in Europe, will expand Air Tahiti Nui’s global reach by providing improved service to consumers traveling between Tahiti and Europe via Los Angeles” said Etienne Howan, Chairman and CEO of Air Tahiti Nui.
Pending the U.S. Department of Transportation’s decision on the application, Air France and Air Tahiti Nui existing cooperation between Paris and Tahiti will remain as it is today, with one code share flight per week. This code share flight is providing one additional frequency to the customers of each airline and improves the link between Tahiti and Paris.
