It’s possible to be a small airline and not lack ambition, and to know how to dare, try things and take risks. Such is the case with Aircalin, which we were able to follow for 48 hours last week on the occasion of two major events: the opening of a new route and the announcement of an aircraft order with Airbus. A great momentum for the airline, which celebrated its 40th anniversary last year.
Here, then, is a condensed account of those 48 hours, with the story behind the story.
A response to the crisis in New Caledonian tourism
The riots in the French overseas collectivity at the beginning of the year had a major impact on tourism on the island. While tourist activity had returned to 96% of its pre-pandemic level, the riots brought the business to a halt, with a 50% drop in tourist arrivals, a 40% drop in bookings for the May-July 2024 period, and a loss of up to 70% in hotel and restaurant sales in tourist areas.
These figures were confirmed by Aircalin CEO Georges Selefen: the airline recorded a 54% drop in passenger traffic, which led to short-time working.
AirCalin therefore had to mobilize on two fronts: bringing tourists back to New Caledonia and restoring its own profitability.
The launch of a route between Nouméa and Paris via Bangkok is a response to this need: to facilitate travel between France, the leading source of tourists, and New Caledonia, and to take 100% of the revenue on this route.
Until now, Aircalin operated routes to Asia, from which partners such as Air France and Japan Airlines flew passengers to France, sharing the revenue. By operating this direct end-to-end route with a short stopover in Bangkok, the airline not only offers the shortest journey time between Nouméa and Paris (around 10 hours to Bangkok, 2 hours stopover and 12 hours flight to Paris), but also captures 100% of the revenue from this highly profitable flight.
Bangkok is also a wise choice. Yield is certainly lower there than on Singapore, which it also serves, but it’s easier to sell flights to Bangkok to leisure customers, even if the aim is to have as many passengers as possible make the trip from start to finish. In any case, the participation of the Thailand Tourism Board at the inauguration shows the interest that all stakeholders have in this route.
What’s remarkable is that only 6 months elapsed between the decision and the inauguration of the route, which obviously surprised even some people within the airline. In this way, the airline has turned its modest size into an advantage, thanks to its ability to decide and execute quickly, rather like a start-up.
But it has to be said that the stakes are high for the airline. It currently operates a fleet of 4 aircraft (2 A330 Neo and 2 A320 Neo), which means that this route will monopolize 25% of its fleet and 50% of its long-haul fleet.
The inauguration of the Nouméa-Bangkok-Paris service
So we had a gathering on December 11 for the inauguration of this flight.
Passengers are already massed and there’s a sense of excitement about this grand premiere.
A few minutes later we pass through police and security checks under escort to the boarding hall of Roissy’s terminal 2C, from where Aircalin will be operating, and shortly afterwards the A330 Neo shows up.
It’s always nice to see a new livery arrive at Roissy, especially when it’s as beautiful as that of the New Caledonian airline.
Back to the terminal for the usual speeches and entertainment, featuring New Caledonian and Thai dances and songs.
But Aircalin’s livery wasn’t the only star of the evening.
We were then invited by Carole Bednarek, Aircalin’s Director for France and Europe, to visit the cabin of this A330 Neo.
The cabin of Air Calin’s A330 Neo
Seeing the aircraft on the ground is all very well, but to fully satisfy our curiosity, a visit to the cabin was essential, even if we would have preferred to test the service in flight.
We start with the economy cabin, configured in a 2-4-2 layout.
Premium economy in 2-3-2.
Then there’s the business class in 1-2-1.
At Aircalin, it’s called Hibiscus, and I found it quite pretty and “cosy”, with curves to great effect.
It has a staggered configuration, with one row in two where the seat is glued to the aisle and the other where it is more isolated.
As the aircraft is ready for imminent boarding, we won’t be able to test the seat in bed position.
But it’s even better on video thanks to Sophie, our national aviation geekette.
So, with 244 seats in economy, 21 in premium and 26 in business, this aircraft will operate the route twice a week, at least initially.
Indeed, we had an appointment the following day to discuss the future development of Aircalin’s fleet.
Aircalin orders two Airbus A350 from Airbus
Aircalin and Airbus had arranged to meet us at the Quai Branly Museum’s restaurant, Les Ombres, the following day.
To support its development in the hyper-long-haul segment, the airline wanted to equip itself with even more efficient and cost-effective aircraft, hence the order for 2 Airbus A350-900s. Two aircraft may seem like a small thing to you, but to them it means a lot, given the size of their fleet.
Here again, the decision to open the route to Paris was taken and negotiated very quickly.
The layout of the cabin is still under discussion, but we already know that it will be fitted out with 3 classes for around 325 seats.
Another feat, given Airbus’s backlog (8,600 aircraft) and the delivery times that go with it, Aircalin has managed to obtain a delivery slot for the end of 2026 and one during 2028. That is, if all goes well.
One of these aircraft will be added to the fleet, while the second will replace one of the A330s, which will then be sold on (Aircalin buys its aircraft, which also applies to the A350s, so it owns them, unlike many airlines which lease them).
Eventually, the airline plans to increase service to Paris to 3 or even 4 times a week. As to whether a non-stop service was ever envisaged, the airline pointed out that the A350-900s did not have the autonomy to do so, to which Airbus mischievously replied that they were working on a version of the A350-1000 adapted to the Qantas Sunrise Project, and that they would be delighted to help Aircalin in this perspective when the time came.
Bottom line
Despite its small size and the humility that goes with it, Aircalin has shown real dynamism and has taken the problem of the crisis in New Caledonian tourism head-on, almost turning it into an opportunity.
This means a new airline at Roissy, a new route with, in our opinion, the best timetable to Bangkok compared with the current offer, and a route we can’t wait to fly.
In the end, there were only three losers: Air France and Japan Airlines, who will lose some of the traffic Aircalin brought them, and Japan, which will lose a direct link with New Caledonia.