Air Tahiti (VT, Papeete) is evaluating ordering two A220-100s or EMB-195 E2s for its planned regional expansion, with the deliveries foreseen in the next two to three years, Managing Director Manate Vivish told Air Transport World.
The French Polynesian regional carrier is looking at jets seating up to 100 passengers.
One of the routes where a regional jet could take over from Avions de Transport Régional turboprops would be the carrier's trunk Papeete-Bora Bora service.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, the carrier currently operates three Beech King Air 200s, two ATR42-600s, seven ATR72-600s on a nearly exclusively domestic network in French Polynesia. The airline serves 43 domestic destinations, operating sectors ranging from 20 to 1650-kilometre long. Its only international destination is Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, served 1x weekly from Papeete.
Vivish said that Air Tahiti would also look at adding more international services to its network. He added that out of the entire network, only five to six routes are financially sustainable, while the others are loss-making.
Air Tahiti, despite being 13% owned by the local government, does not receive any subsidies. It is unrelated to state-owned and long-haul-focused Air Tahiti Nui (TN, Papeete).