A De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter registered F-ONCA has been ferried from Altenrhein in Switzerland to Tahiti in French Polynesia for Air Tetiaroa, following an overhaul in Switzerland. The aircraft was routed across nine legs and about 18,000 kilometres, with two experienced pilots handling the long overwater and remote sectors on a journey planned to take roughly 11 days and around 60 flight hours.
The ferry route included stops at Cardiff, Keflavik, Iqaluit, Saskatoon, Boise, Santa Maria, Hilo and Kiribati before the final leg to Tahiti. Air Tetiaroa is expanding its Twin Otter fleet with the aircraft, which will become the operator’s third example of the type. The Twin Otter is widely used in French Polynesia for short-haul island services, where rugged airfields, short runways and inter-island distances make the turboprop a practical choice.