- This resumption of service is following the launch of a pre-travel testing program between Hawaiʻi and French Polynesia that allows for quarantine-free travel within the two archipelagos.
- Hawaiian will reinstate once-weekly nonstop flying between Honolulu’s Daniel K. Inouye International Airport (HNL) and Tahiti’s Fa’a’ā International Airport (PPT).
- Flights will be conducted on the airlines’ 278-seat Airbus A330 aircraft.
Hawaiian began its inaugural Hawaiʻi – Tahiti air travel in June 1987. Flights were then suspended in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The carrier’s resumption of flights is made possible by the new pre-travel testing program established by Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige and French Polynesia President Édouard Fritch — a result of low COVID-19 cases within the 2 destinations.
“We look forward to reconnecting our islands, but most importantly, reconnecting family members who have not seen each other for over a year,” said Peter Ingram, President and CEO at Hawaiian Airlines. “We appreciate the tremendous work by the governments of French Polynesia and Hawaiʻi to open up travel between our regions.”
Both Hawaiʻi and French Polynesia will implement strict travel requirements for resident and visitor safety. Those traveling inbound from PPT to HNL must complete and upload a negative test result from the Institut Louis Malardé, a state-approved testing partner, to the state of Hawaiʻi’s Safe Travels program. Guests traveling outbound to PPT from HNL will need to provide proof of vaccination and have fulfilled the government of Tahiti’s COVID-19 entry requirements prior to travel. Those not compliant will be subject to a 10-day quarantine.
“Many of Hawaiʻi’s residents have family in Tahiti, and welcoming our guests from French Polynesia to Hawaiʻi is an important step in maintaining the close relationship between our two regions,” said Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige.
Hawaiian Airlines flight HA481 will depart HNL at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7 and arrive at PPT at 9:30 p.m. Flight HA482 will depart PPT at 11:30 p.m. the same evening and arrive into HNL at 5:15 a.m. the following day.
Hawaiian’s “Keeping you safe” enhanced cleaning includes frequent disinfecting of lobby areas, kiosks, and ticket counters, electrostatic aircraft cabin spraying, plexiglass barriers at staffed airport counters, and sanitizer wipe distribution to all guests. The carrier requires all guests to complete a health acknowledgement form during the check-in process indicating they are free of COVID-19 symptoms and will comply with the company’s updated mask policy for the entirety of their journey.
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