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 Aircalin AirbusA330-900 departing fromLondon Stansted Airport | |||||||
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| Founded | September 1983; 42 years ago (1983-09) (asAir Calédonie International) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hubs | La Tontouta International Airport | ||||||
| Frequent-flyer program | Flying Blue | ||||||
| Fleet size | 4 | ||||||
| Destinations | 11 | ||||||
| Parent company | Government of New Caledonia | ||||||
| Headquarters | Nouméa,New Caledonia | ||||||
| Key people | |||||||
| Revenue |  €151 million (2017) | ||||||
| Employees | 480 (2020)[1] | ||||||
| Website | www | ||||||
Société Aircalin, also known asAir Calédonie International, is theflag carrier of theFrench collectivity ofNew Caledonia, with its headquarters inNouméa.[2] It operates scheduled services from its main hub atLa Tontouta International Airport to destinations acrossOceania and Asia, as well as domestic services inWallis and Futuna. The airline is 99% owned by the Government of New Caledonia, with the remaining 1% held by minority owners, including the airline's employees.
The airline was established in September 1983 asAir Calédonie International, an international airline to complementNew Caledonia's domestic airline,Air Calédonie.[3] Between 1983 and 1985, the airline operated flights fromNouméa by leasing aircraft from other airlines includingAir Nauru andQantas. In 1985, the airline acquired aSud Aviation Caravelle fromCorsair, which it used to open routes toSydney andAuckland until 1988, when the airline replaced the Caravelle with aBoeing 737-300. In 1986, the airline began operating in Asia until 1997 due to theAsian Financial Crisis, specifically operated from Nouméa to Kagoshima via Manila and Hong Kong, shortly after, it began flying to Honolulu from Nouméa via Guam and Wake Island until 1999 due to unprofitability. In 1987, the airline also acquired ade Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter to operate services inWallis and Futuna. In 1996, the airline rebranded asAircalin, unveiling a new corporate image and logo.[4]
In April 2000, Aircalin agreed on a three-year interim lease with Airbus for anAirbus A310-300 previously operated bySwissair as its first widebody aircraft. This allowed the airline to trial the viability of long-haul services, with the airline's first long-haul destination beingOsaka.[5] The next year, the airline ordered twoAirbus A330-200s from Airbus, which were to begin delivery upon the expiration of its Airbus A310 lease. The airline also considered the replacement of its singleBoeing 737-300 with anAirbus A320-200.[6][7] Aircalin's firstAirbus A330-200 proceeded to begin service in late 2002, replacing the leased Airbus A310, while the second A330-200 allowed the airline to open a new route toTokyo, taking overAir France's service between Tokyo and Nouméa.[7][8] On 9 February 2004, the airline received its firstAirbus A320-200, which replaced itsBoeing 737-300.[9]
On 1 July 2014, Aircalin unveiled a newlivery with the delivery of its secondAirbus A320-200, the livery incorporating shades of blue inspired by New Caledonia's lagoon and skies, as well as traditional symbols.[10][11] In October 2017, the airline ordered twoAirbus A320neo and twoA330-900 aircraft, with the intent of replacing its twoAirbus A320-200 and twoA330-200 aircraft.[12][13] Aircalin's firstAirbus A330-900 was delivered on 30 July 2019, and the airline subsequently planned the retirement of itsAirbus A330-200 operations for September 2019.[14][15][16] Following the initial retirement of the airline'sAirbus A330-200 aircraft, Aircalin returned one of itsAirbus A330-900 aircraft to Airbus in November 2019, citing noxious fumes in the cabin during operation, similar to issues reported byTAP Air Portugal for their own A330-900 aircraft.[17] One of the airline's A330-200 aircraft was temporarily returned to operation for six weeks, during which the A330-900 was being investigated by Airbus and engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce until December 2019.[18]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Aircalin in May 2020 reported a 93% drop in passenger demand since March 2020, postponed all operations outside of French repatriation flights, and announced plans to cut staffing costs by 20% through a combination of layoffs and voluntary resignations.[1] The airline also announced the suspension of its routes toMelbourne and Osaka from Nouméa, and the postponement of itsAirbus A320neo deliveries from 2020 to 2023.[1] The airline initially in July 2020 scheduled the resumption of services to Osaka for March 2021,[19] but flights to Osaka never resumed. Despite previous reports that its Airbus A320neo deliveries would be postponed to 2023, Aircalin accepted its first of two A320neos in December 2020,[20] before retiring its remaining Airbus A320-200s by April 2021.
Aircalin serves or has previously served the following destinations as of December 2023[update]:[21]
Aircalin hasinterlining agreements with the following airlines:
Aircalin hascodeshare agreements with the following airlines:[28][29]
_Airbus_A330-941N_taxiing_at_Sydney_Airport.jpg)
As of August 2025[update], Aircalin operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:[33]
| Aircraft | In service | Orders | Passengers | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Y+ | Y | Total | ||||
| Airbus A320neo | 2 | — | — | 8 | 160 | 168 | |
| Airbus A330-900 | 2 | — | 26 | 21 | 244 | 291 | |
| Airbus A350-900 | — | 2 | TBA | [34] | |||
| Total | 4 | 2 | |||||
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Aircalin has previously operated the following aircraft:
| Aircraft | Total | Introduced | Retired | Replacement | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airbus A310-300 | 1 | 2000 | 2003 | Airbus A330-200 | |
| Airbus A320-200 | 2 | 2004 | 2021 | Airbus A320neo | |
| Airbus A330-200 | 2 | 2002 | 2019 | Airbus A330-900 | |
| Boeing 737-300 | 1 | 1988 | 2004 | Airbus A320-200 | |
| de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter | 3 | 1987 | 2023 | None | |
| Sud Aviation Caravelle | 1 | 1985 | 1988 | Boeing 737-300 |
Aircalin participates inFlying Blue, thefrequent-flyer program ofAir France–KLM. The airline originally joined as a partner ofAir France'sFréquence Plus program in 1997, before it was later succeeded by and integrated intoKLM'sFlying Blue program in 2003.
Media related toAircalin at Wikimedia Commons
