A journalist in French Polynesia says the Chinese airline, Hainan Airlines, is looking to set up a direct flight from Shanghai to Tahiti by the end of the year.
Photo: RNZ
The publisher of the Tahiti Pacifique monthly, Alex du Prel, says the airline is in negotiations with five hotel owners to buy their businesses - one in Tahiti, two in Moorea and two in Bora Bora.
He says if those negotiations are successful, they may make a direct flight between the French territory and China.
"The Chinese airline, Hainan Airline, is engaging, that's for sure, to purchase five existing hotels. And then if that goes through then by December we might have a direct line between China and Tahiti."
Alex Du Prel says once tourists arrived in Tahiti, Air Tahiti planes or fast ferries could take them to other islands.
