17,000 km: Aircalin plans flights from New Caledonia to Paris from 2026

About 17,000 kilometers from Paris, east of Australia, lies a piece of France in the middle of the Pacific Ocean: New Caledonia. The archipelago was considered a French overseas territory until a constitutional change in 2003. Today the former colony is an offshore community with special status. New Caledonia is not part of the European Union and is not part of the Schengen Area.

The arrival gateway is La Tontota International Airport where the local airline Aircalin is based at the airport. The airline currently operates four aircraft: two Airbus A320 Neo aircraft for regional flights to Wallis, Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, New Zealand and Polynesia. There are also two Airbus A330-900 aircraft for long-haul flights.

Change in Tokyo

The airline, founded in 1983, uses aircraft with registrations F-ONEO and F-ONET on its flights to Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo. If you want to fly with her to Paris, you currently have to change to an Air France plane in Tokyo. Aircalin has a codeshare partnership with the French national airline.

If managing director Didier Tapiro has his way, that could change in 2026. As part of the acquisition of the second Airbus A320 Neo, he announced that his airline could offer up to four flights a week to Paris Charles de Gaulle Within two years, the radio station reported. Radio 1.

Air France abandoned this route in 1995

The airline will have to provide nearly 17,000 km of route back home with stopovers. Singapore is under consideration. The range of the Airbus A330-900 reaches 12,600 km.

Air France offered the route until 1995. But the French national carrier abandoned its flights from Paris via Singapore to Noumea. Aircalin is now working on the return of the route. In line with this, the airline is said to be interested in a third A330-900.