Air Tahiti Nui ends Seattle-Paris flights in January

Air Tahiti Nui, the national airline of Tahiti, has announced it will discontinue its flights between Seattle and Paris starting January 5, 2025. The airline currently operates a one-stop journey from Papeete to Paris via Los Angeles and Seattle. However, after January, Los Angeles will be the sole U.S. gateway for flights to Paris.

In a statement to Simple Flying, Air Tahiti Nui's spokesperson explained the decision: "Effective January 5, 2025, Air Tahiti Nui will discontinue its Seattle to Paris route as we focus on optimizing our network. We remain fully committed to supporting all existing routes, including those to Papeete and beyond, with our Seattle to Papeete service as a key priority for 2025. We thank our passengers for their continued support and look forward to welcoming them onboard."

The current twice-weekly service offers approximately 2,400 seats each way monthly. Managing Director Mathieu Bechonnet discussed the reasons behind the suspension with Jonathan Hendry from Simple Flying. He cited high transatlantic seasonality and double-gateway expenses as significant factors: "We are still maintaining our capacity to Paris to make better use of our crew and our cost-structure. For that reason, we decided to move all our resources to our [route between] Papeete-Paris through LA."