Air Tahiti Nui cleared to sell Tahiti Nui Helicopters

By Andrew Curran.

Air Tahiti Nui has received the green light to sell its helicopter business, Tahiti Nui Helicopters, and hopes to finalise the deal by the end of October.

French Polynesia’s competition authority, Autorité Polynésienne de la Concurrence (APC), approved the proposed sale to Tavake SAS earlier this month.

Air Tahiti Nui had decided to offload its helicopter business after a strategic review and a decision to focus on its core business – long-haul passenger flights.

Tahiti Nui Helicopters was founded in 2018 by Air Tahiti Nui in a 50/50 partnership with France’s HBG Hélicoptères after French Polynesia’s only helicopter operator, Tahiti Helicopter, ceased operations in early 2017.

As of 2025, Air Tahiti Nui held a 68.5% shareholding in Tahiti Nui Helicopters. Other shareholders included the Government of French Polynesia (14.8%), HBG Hélicoptères (down to 9.1%) and state-owned investment company Sofidep (7.6%).

A solid business until it was not

Having sole-operator status in French Polynesia, Tahiti Nui Helicopters enjoys a steady stream of customers, operating aeromedical transfers, on-demand inter-island and sightseeing flights, cargo flights and aerial work.

According to its website, Tahiti Nui Helicopters operates three aircraft, including two 24-year-old Airbus H135s registered as F-GYHF (msn 0255) and F-GVYM (msn 0252), and a 25-year-old Airbus H125 registered as F-GXPE (msn 9031). Flight-tracking websites indicate all three are in service.

Tahiti Nui Helicopter was reportedly profitable until relatively recently, when its aircraft began unexpectedly going out of service and encountered a series of regulatory and compliance challenges, including bringing them up to standard to continue aeromedical work.

The difficulties at Tahiti Nui Helicopters coincided with a series of financial challenges at Air Tahiti Nui and a strategic reset.

Aircraft order better positions the business for sale

In late June 2026, Tahiti Nui Helicopters CEO Lionel Guérin signed an order for four twin-engine H135s to replace the existing aircraft at a cost of approximately XPF4 billion (USD38.5 million). The order took advantage of some tax breaks and, according to Guérin, was also about making Tahiti Nui Helicopters more attractive to buyers.

He says the subsequent deal with Tavake SAS is a good outcome that will benefit all stakeholders, including employees, and will allow Air Tahiti Nui to concentrate on getting its own financial affairs in order.

The buyer, Tavake SAS, is a holding and investment company owned by the Martin/Brasserie de Tahiti group, which, among other activities, owns a local hotel chain and is an active player in French Polynesia’s tourism sector.

Neither party has disclosed the cost or the precise terms of the transaction. However, reflecting Papeete’s concentrated business community, Tavake SAS is chaired and managed by Mathieu Bechonnet, a former CEO of Air Tahiti Nui.

Photo: Tahiti Nui Helicopters.
Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com