Sadly I only stayed three nights two days in Papeete and torrential rain did not stop falling. Not enough to spoil my pleasure to be in French Polynesia thought! The high humidity made the use of my Canon EOS Camera challenging. Thus most of the pictures are taken with my iPhone 6 plus.
The view from the Beachcomber Intercontinental. Did not see much of Moorea during my stay.
Miserable weather….
Another Salade Tahitienne - Raw tuna salad, French fries and a glass of Chablis…it does not get better than this. Also very nice to be recognized and pampered by the staff at the BeachComber.
My view for the two days…..As it happens this aircraft is currently used mainly for charter purpose. Incidentally I saw this aircract earlier in the week flying my house in Sydney, on her way to Brisbane and Darwin, operating for the Australian Army. She is seen here undergoing light maintenance
The elusive F-OJGF Mangareva……will I ever fly on her before she is retired…..! Seen here teasing me and still leaving my flight data base empty of her regio ! An Air NZ 767 is AOG in the background. That aircraft had break issues. She will finally leave at 10pm that night having to wait for a dry tarmac to take off
Today will be a long day. I get up at 2h30am SYD time…..It is a very very short ride to the airport
A few flights scheduled today, The LAX/Paris check-in in nearly completed thus the terminal is pretty quiet. I like the fact that the terminal is wide open, open to the element. Just like most hotel lobbies in tropical places.
There is a dedicated lane for premium pax
Check in counter. Check in is a breeze. Very fast process. Actually the process has changed, thanks God. Passengers are no longer required to take their luggage with them and inject themat a security check point.
Customs
The passenger terminal is very small, and crowed as the LAX/CDG flight departure is delayed. Not much to do here if you do not have access to the lounge.
Again the terminal is open to the element…no air conditioning…
My aircraft. F-OSUN. An old friend. Note the white radom adding an intersting variation to the livery! And sistership F-OSEA in the background (which I flew on my way over)
Boarding is smooth and efficient. We board before the LAX/CDG flight which is scheduled to depart one hour before us !
I love walking on the tarmac.
Looking back towards the terminal
This way up !
A smiling and beautiful cabin manager welcomes me. We had a nice chat during the flight and she was very interested to hear about my feedback as a passenger.
My seat. Not as spacious as row 2 but pretty comfortable still
the seat pitch is very decent
Door closed. The cabin is full
Push back. It is raining again….
The terminal
Bye F-OSEA have fun in Paris
All good - ready to fly
An Air Tahiti Nui A340 just landed. Can be seen turning back at the end of the runway (there is no taxi way in PPT) Unfortunately I won't be able to find out which aircraft it is
A glimpse of Moorea as we are about to turn around and line up the runway in the other direction. Very appropriate when flying the Moorea ! Or just very considerate of the pilot
A nice view of Moorea and her lagoon
IFE on (sadly it is turn on 15 min after takeoff….avgeek such as myself like to have the IFE turn on as we take our seats when boarding!
Was distracted. Forgot to take photo of the meal service. Sadly no snack were served after lunch. I am told Papeete Catering forgot to load the trolley.
On approach, tracking towards AKL. The beautiful islands and bays in the AKL area
Good view of AKL city, the Harbour Bridge
The dramatic coast line of West New Zealand as we turn back to land
It is Sunday in AKL…Ugly hobbit aircraft is here, and the Qantas Freight 767
Who said the weather is moody in AKL. Another beautiful day on middle earth! A great to plane spot…I have 2 hours before the last leg of my journey which will take me home to SYD
Highly recommend to cross check to a beautiful flight report from The Master for further pictures and insights in the exotic world of South West Pacific flying: http://flight-report.com/en/report-9833.html
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Verdict
Air Tahiti Nui
8.1/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi7.5
Meal/catering7.5
Papeete - PPT
7.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access9.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness6.0
Auckland - AKL
5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0
Conclusion
Th return leg was a different experience. The cabin was full, which gave the cabin a different feel. The crew was nonetheless very friendly, engaging and efficient. The food was as good as the inbound flight. Apologies for the lack of picture. Since none of the movies took my fancy, I spent much of the flight watching the documentaries on French Polynesia when I was not snoozing! Ontime performance was good. We left 10 min late but arrived 20 minutes early. Going through Papeete Airport was fast and efficient - No problems with check in, immigration, security and boarding. Arrival at AKL Airport was smooth too.
Highly recommend to cross check to a beautiful flight report from The Master for further pictures and insights in the exotic world of South West Pacific flying:
Thanks a lot for sharing this beautiful report. As I said on your last report, I really like the cabin and the livery. Nice presentation of PPT. I've never paid attention before, there is no doors at the entrance of PPT !
Shame the weather wasn't cooperating in Tahiti to take advantage of the open-air terminal and get better tarmac shots. At least you were able to enjoy the beautiful arrival into AKL.
When you consider that TN has very little competition on routes out of PPT (I'd bet NZ sends their oldest planes on this holiday route), the product is actually really good. I'm just thinking about how poor options are in/out of HNL as a comparison. Although, the passengers going all the way to CDG might have something to say about cabin comfort.
Thank you. Yes very little competition but competition with AF between PPT and CDG. All but the AKL flight are really long haul flights so product has to be suited.
Thanks for sharing this nice report with us. What a smile at the door ! when you see that you already know it's going to be a good flight. I love TN 's livery it's really apart from all other airlines and represents very well the pacific.
Thanks for this report. While you were here, I was in Maupiti, blocked in this little island because of rain and wind, the ATR could not land friday evening ! I finally come back in PPT saturday in the morning with a beautiful sun just a few hours after you leave.
Welcom Anthony, yours are not bad either hahaha. The weather was not really good indeed...but I was too busy with work to mind too much...Somehow stormy tropical weather has its charms as well...
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65 reviews
8 Comments
Thanks a lot for sharing this beautiful report.
As I said on your last report, I really like the cabin and the livery.
Nice presentation of PPT. I've never paid attention before, there is no doors at the entrance of PPT !
See you,
Shame the weather wasn't cooperating in Tahiti to take advantage of the open-air terminal and get better tarmac shots. At least you were able to enjoy the beautiful arrival into AKL.
When you consider that TN has very little competition on routes out of PPT (I'd bet NZ sends their oldest planes on this holiday route), the product is actually really good. I'm just thinking about how poor options are in/out of HNL as a comparison. Although, the passengers going all the way to CDG might have something to say about cabin comfort.
While you were here, I was in Maupiti, blocked in this little island because of rain and wind, the ATR could not land friday evening ! I finally come back in PPT saturday in the morning with a beautiful sun just a few hours after you leave.
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