by Steve Mackenzie

And I have just found that Air Moorea additionally had F-OHJF c/n 500 from 1995 to 2008. It had an odd half/half scheme of flowers on the front fuselage and a mural to the rear part as per the image above. I am not going to try to do a profile due to not great references and the complicated mural/ tail markings.

The final Air Moorea scheme was even more complicated. F-ODBN, F-OHJG and F-OIGI c/n 608 (acquired in 2006 and written off in a crash in 2007) all had different variations of it, as is illustrated in this company air timetable from 2009. The murals on the rear fuselage (different on each one) are advertisements for 'Tahia Collins' a large jeweler in Tahiti. No profile (I tried but too complicated). See Jetphotos and Airliners.net for images of the scheme.

Air Moorea ceased to operate between Tahiti and Moorea on the 31st of October 2010 per a company announcement that I have a copy of, due to a lack of confidence in the company after the 2007 crash, also likely due to an airstrip becoming available on Moorea that could accomodate larger airframes that made up the bulk of the Air Tahiti fleet.

But that is not the end of Air Tahiti use of DHC-6 airframes. The company also owns Air Archipels founded in 1996, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Air Tahiti group, which operates charters for local organisations and for Air Tahiti, especially for medical evacuations using specially equipped aircraft. and included F-OIQF and F-OIQP (which transferred from Air Moorea), they also operate Beech Twin Air 200s.

DHC-6 Twin Otter c/n 715 of Air Archipels. White overall fuselage with Red/Yellow stripes and tail logo, spinners are Polished Metal. Rego, Anti-glare panel, ends of horizontal tailplanes and area to cover exhaust strains on wings and cowling are Black.

But that was not the end of the Air Tahiti use of Twin Otters. The Marquesas Islands was previously served by Tahiti Air Charter which operated single-engine Cessna Caravans. The government of French Polynesia decided to hand the routes to national carrier Air Tahiti, because the local civil aviation regulator was reticent about having single-engine aircraft serve such long routes over water. Air Tahiti was authorised to wet-lease a De Havilland Aircraft Twin Otter from Swiss operator Zimex Aviation for the services on the routes, Twin Otter 816 HB-LUB was leased to run five-times weekly flights starting in mid-November 2022. The route will be operated by Zimex until July 2026 at a financial loss to the State Govt who were subsidising the service. After that it is intended that service will be provided by Air Tahiti with two new ATR42-600S airframes after the airstrips on the islands are upgraded.

DHC-6 Twin Otter c/n 816 HB-LUB of Air Tahiti 2023-24. White overall fuselage with large areas painted with traditional Polynesian motifs on the fuselage in Black and Red on the vertical tail. These are also painted on the ATR-72 fleet and have specific meanings to the local Polynesians (see https://www.airtahiti.com/en/tatau-livery for illustrations of the ATR airframes and the meanings of the various elements). Black Regos, anti-glare panel, 'zimex' logos, ends of horizontal tailplanes and areas to cover exhaust staining on the engine cowls and wings. Swiss flag and 'Air Tahiti' logo in Red/ White. In a couple of images it has 'Te Ao Ku'a' above the rego as per the image above. This scheme was fun...(NOT) to draw.

There are other current, past and future users of the Twin Otter in French Polynesia. Between 2003 and 2022 Faa'a [Government of French Polynesia, Nuku Hiva] operated F-OIGF (which had previouly been with Air Archipels) themselves, carrying 'Tahiti Nui' titles and the seal of the Government on the tail.

DHC-6 Twin Otter c/n 715 operated by Faa'a [Government of French Polynesia, Nuku Hiva]. White overall with large Red sweeping stripes and logo on tail in Red/Yellow/ Blue. Black Regos, 'Tahiti Nui', spinners and areas to cover exhaust stains on engine cowlings and wings. Red/White Govt flag on the nose with miniature copy of the tail logo in the centre.

Also operating Twin Otters currently is the Brando Resort, a major high end eco-resort on an Island that was purchased by the late actor Marlon Brando (and still operated by his estate). They operate two Twin Otters and two BN Islanders to bring tourists to the resort under the name 'Air Tetiaroa' and have recently expanded to some other destinations within French Polynesia. Both are leased from Zimex again, identities being F-OKYB c/n 636 (previously HB-LRN) and F-OKRB c/n 705 (previously HB-LRB).

DHC-6 Twin Otter c/n 636 of Air Tetiaroa. White overall. Black Regos, areas to cover exhaust stains, anti-glare panel and outer halves of horizontal tailplanes Light/Medium Blue 'Air Tetiaroa' titles and tail logo. Wording 'The Brando' on the tail is in Red.

And finally Air Bora Bora (a new startup which gained approval to operate from the local Govt in 2023) has BIG acquisition plans which includes up to nine Twin Otter airframes. Time will tell whether we see another DHC-6 Twin Otter scheme in the region.

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