Aircalin

History

The airline was established in September 1983 as Air Calédonie International, an international airline to complement New Caledonia's domestic airline, Air Calédonie. Between 1983 and 1985, the airline operated flights from Nouméa by leasing aircraft from other airlines including Air Nauru and Qantas. In 1985, the airline acquired a Sud Aviation Caravelle from Corsair, which it used to open routes to Sydney and Auckland until 1988, when the airline replaced the Caravelle with a Boeing 737-300. In 1986, the airline began operating in Asia until 1997 due to the Asian 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 a De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter to operate services in Wallis and Futuna. In 1996, the airline rebranded as Aircalin, unveiling a new corporate image and logo.

In April 2000, Aircalin agreed on a three-year interim lease with Airbus for an Airbus A310-300 previously operated by Swissair 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 being Osaka. The next year, the airline ordered two Airbus 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 single Boeing 737-300 with an Airbus A320-200. Aircalin's first Airbus 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 to Tokyo, taking over Air France's service between Tokyo and Nouméa. On 9 February 2004, the airline received its first Airbus A320-200, which replaced its Boeing 737-300.

On 1 July 2014, Aircalin unveiled a new livery with the delivery of its second Airbus A320-200, the livery incorporating shades of blue inspired by New Caledonia's lagoon and skies, as well as traditional symbols. In October 2017, the airline ordered two Airbus A320neo and two A330-900 aircraft, with the intent of replacing its two Airbus A320-200 and two A330-200 aircraft. Aircalin's first Airbus A330-900 was delivered on 30 July 2019, and the airline subsequently planned the retirement of its Airbus A330-200 operations for September 2019. Following the initial retirement of the airline's Airbus A330-200 aircraft, Aircalin returned one of its Airbus A330-900 aircraft to Airbus in November 2019, citing noxious fumes in the cabin during operation, similar to issues reported by TAP Air Portugal for their own A330-900 aircraft. 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.

During the COVID-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. The airline also announced the suspension of its routes to Melbourne and Osaka from Nouméa, and the postponement of its Airbus A320neo deliveries from 2020 to 2023. The airline initially in July 2020 scheduled the resumption of services to Osaka for March 2021, 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, before retiring its remaining Airbus A320-200s by April 2021.

Destinations

Aircalin serves or has previously served the following destinations :

Interline agreements

Aircalin has interline agreements with the following airlines:

• Singapore Airlines
• Virgin Australia

Codeshare agreements

Aircalin has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

• Air Caledonie
• Air France
• Air New Zealand
• Air Tahiti Nui
• Air Vanuatu
• Japan Airlines
• Qantas
• Singapore Airlines

Fleet

Current fleet

, Aircalin operates an all-Airbus fleet consisting of the following aircraft:

Former fleet

Aircalin has previously operated the following aircraft:

Frequent-flyer program

Main article: Flying Blue

Aircalin participates in Flying Blue, the frequent-flyer program of Air France–KLM. The airline originally joined as a partner of Air France's Fréquence Plus program in 1997, before it was later succeeded by and integrated into KLM's Flying Blue program in 2003.

References

References

1. (15 May 2020). "New Caledonia airline tables cost-cutting plans". [[Radio New Zealand]].
2. "Contact Us". Aircalin.
3. "Aircalin, Air Caledonie International".
4. "History of Aircalin".
5. (24 April 2000). "Aircalin expands international services with leased A310-300". [[DVV Media Group]].
6. Ionides, Nicholas. (14 May 2001). "Aircalin agrees Airbus A330-200 acquisition". [[DVV Media Group]].
7. (27 August 2001). "Aircalin buys A330s". [[DVV Media Group]].
8. (30 December 2002). "Air Calédonie begins flights with A330-200". [[DVV Media Group]].
9. (9 February 2004). "Aircalin Becomes New Airbus A320 Operator". Airbus S.A.S..
10. (1 July 2014). "Aircalin arrayed in New Caledonian colours!". Aircalin.
11. Clark, Jonny. (5 July 2014). "Aircalin, The Latest Pacific Airline To Celebrate Local Culture".
12. Sanchez, Alvaro. (11 October 2017). "Aircalin orders two A320neo, two A330neo". Airways International, Inc.
13. (6 February 2018). "Aircalin and SWISS choose the PW1100G to power their A320neo". Airliner Watch.
14. (30 July 2020). "Aircalin takes delivery of its first of two A330neo aircraft". [[Airbus]].
15. Schlappig, Ben. (30 July 2019). "Aircalin Takes Delivery Of First A330-900neo".
16. (22 August 2019). "New Caledonia's Aircalin to end A330-200 ops in late 3Q19". ch-aviation GmbH.
17. Dewan, Akhil. (18 November 2019). "Aircalin Returns Airbus A330neo After Cabin Odor Reports".
18. Sipinksi, Dominic. (19 December 2019). "New Caledonia's Aircalin takes re-delivery of first A330neo". ch-aviation.
19. Liu, Jim. (20 July 2020). "AirCalin delays Osaka service resumption to March 2021". Informa Markets.
20. (28 December 2020). "Aircalin takes delivery of its first A320neo". [[Airbus]].
21. "Our destinations". Aircalin.
22. (16 August 2023). "Aircalin to restart Melbourne flights after 3 years". Travel Weekly.
23. (9 October 2017). "First New Caledonia to China flights on track". [[Radio New Zealand]].
24. (16 September 2024). "Aircalin plans Paris Dec 2024 launch".
25. (12 April 2022). "Aircalin to fly to Singapore".
26. Chua, Alfred. (2 July 2022). "Aircalin launches Singapore flights; eyes Asia opportunities".
27. Liu, Jim. (24 February 2014). "AirCalin Ends Seoul Service from March 2014". Informa Markets.
28. "Airline partnerships".
29. "Profile on Aircalin". Centre for Aviation.
30. "Air Caledonie flights to Port Vila to be Codeshare with Aircalin".
31. "Aircalin Expands Air France Codeshare From July 2023".
32. "Singapore Airlines / Aircalin Launches Codeshare Service in 4Q25".
33. (September 2025). "Global Airline Guide 2025 - Aircalin".
34. (10 December 2024). "Aircalin announces order for two Airbus A350-900 aircraft for long-haul routes". Airbus.