Air Tahiti, the regional carrier operating turboprop flights in French Polynesia, has just taken delivery of a plane that will offer an all-new way to travel. It’s mighty premium, and tickets are on sale for flights launching in the coming weeks. I first covered this in late 2025, but we now have a lot more details, including real pictures of what this will look like.
Air Tahiti will operate one all-business class aircraft
Air Tahiti operates a fleet of roughly a dozen turboprops, with the largest plane being the ATR 72-600. Up until now, all of Air Tahiti’s ATR 72-600s have been configured with 70 seats, in an all-economy layout, with a 2-2 configuration.
That’s starting to change, as the airline has just taken delivery of a very special ATR 72-600. The plane does have an all-new livery for the airline, but that’s not the most exciting part (though it is very cool!).
Instead, it’s what’s on the inside that’s extra cool. The airline is taking advantage of ATR’s collection of high-end cabin interiors, known as ATR HighLine.
This includes an all-new VIP layout, and Air Tahiti will be flying one of these planes that’s in an all-business class layout. The plane has just have 26 seats, spread across 13 rows, in a 1-1 configuration. The seats are specially designed by Geven for ATR, and deliver incredible comfort.
We’re talking 39″ of pitch, 21.6″ of width, 7″ of recline, a personal side console, dedicated storage, and USB-A and USB-C charging ports. The aircraft also has streaming entertainment, not that you really need that on these short sectors, especially with the view out the window.
The airline is branding this experience as “Air Tahiti Signature,” and is promising a special experience both on the ground and in the air. This includes priority and personalized ground handling, along with dedicated lounges in Tahiti and Bora Bora.
Onboard, the airline is promising “exclusive refreshments that celebrate the flavors and culture of the islands,” and says that “every detail is crafted to create an immersive, premium experience from start to finish.”
Side note — it’s fascinating how this plane is being delivered. As you’d expect, getting from Metropolitan France to French Polynesia is quite the journey, so the plane has just started its delivery flight, which will take six days, and include a total of eight segments. How fun! If you’d like to track the plane, it has the registration code F-OPFO.
Air Tahiti’s all-business class routes & ticket cost
Air Tahiti’s plan is to offer this all-business class service on select frequencies from Papeete (PPT) to Bora Bora (BOB) and Raiatea (RFP). We’re talking short routes that cover a distance of 135-160 miles, which are blocked at around an hour.
As things currently stand, these business class flights are on sale for travel as of November 11, 2026. What’s pricing like for these business class flights? A few things to keep in mind:
- Inter-island fares in French Polynesia are already really high when you consider the short travel distances, due to the lack of competition; we’re talking fares that are generally $200+, and often even more than that
- While Bora Bora is of course a premium destination, when there’s not much competition, people will certainly tolerate uncomfortable cabins
- Since the product is available on a very limited number of frequencies (since only one plane has these seats), I imagine most people will choose the most convenient flight, rather than waiting around for hours to be in a more comfortable seat for a 40-minute flight
With that in mind, I currently see one-way fares starting at just under $500 per seat.
When you consider that Air Tahiti otherwise typically charges a minimum of $220 for an economy seat, I suppose that’s actually lower than I would’ve expected.
On the one hand, spending more than double as much for a business class ticket is quite a premium to pay for such a short flight. On the other hand, we’re seeing a 70-seat plane configured with just 26 seats, so the airline needs to be able to command fares nearly three times as high for this to make any sense (of course that’s an oversimplification, since not all flights are always full, costs will differ a bit, etc.).
Bottom line
Air Tahiti has just taken delivery of an ATR 72-600 in an all-business class layout, featuring just 26 seats in a 1-1 configuration. It’s cool to see airlines trying new concepts, and this looks like it should be a very nice ride. This plane will be entering service in the coming weeks, and I hope to fly this at some point.
I am curious how successful this ends up being, especially given that capacity is being reduced by over 60% compared to the standard configuration, and the airline is also able to command some very high economy fares.
What do you make of Air Tahiti’s all-business class aircraft plans?
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