Prospective South Pacific startup FLY CORALway (Papeete) has called it a day, citing a lack of financing and the ongoing impact of Covid. The now-defunct airline had hoped to link New Caledonia with French Polynesia, along with islands in between.
"I regret to announce that at the end of this year, 2023, it has been decided to end the aerial start-up project FLY CORALway," a December 31, 2023, post on the carrier's Facebook account reads. "If the conditions seemed all set before the Covid pandemic, our well-founded hopes of launching operations are no longer feasible due to lack of funding."
ch-aviation has reported on FLY CORALway's startup efforts since 2019, with the would-be carrier then based in the Wallis and Fortuna Islands and known as WF Aviation. In 2020, it rebranded as Air Corail and shifted its focus to French Polynesia, where it planned to trade as FLY CORALway, using dual-class A220-300s to connect Wallis with Apia Faleolo, Nadi, and Nouméa La Tontouta, as well as Papeete with Apia and Nadi. While the airline secured an Air Transport Licence (ATL) from the French Polynesian government in late 2020. However, by then, the pandemic had halted aviation in the region and disrupted startup plans.
While French Polynesia is now enjoying something of a post-pandemic tourism boom, FLY CORALway was never able to secure the funds to progress further. Several months ago, founder Louis Alphonse put his startup on the market. "Covid has significantly impacted the launch of FLY CORALway, and I no longer have the means to carry out this ambitious project," he wrote in an August 23 Facebook post. "In order not to lose the fruits of collective work over several months, I would like to sell the FLY CORALway project so that this initiative survives."
ch-aviation has contacted FLY CORALway for further comment.
