Air Loyauté (RLY, Nouméa Magenta) has opened up a base on Lifou as part of plans to introduce daily inter-island flights throughout the French South Pacific archipelago.

Effective July 13, the carrier has based one of its six turboprops on Lifou to offer flights to the more remote, and isolated islands of Ouvéa and Tiga. Collectively, the three are known as the Loyalty Islands and are located 100 km north east of Grande Terre. While Air Loyauté does serve the island group from Noumea, there is a lack of existing air connectivity among themselves.

As such, to help develop the mini-hub, Air Loyauté intends to build a hangar and fuel farm on Lifou.

General manager Michel Malecot said in a statement that such a hub would not be possible with the backing of the airline's owner, the island's state-backed investment firm, SODIL (Société d’Investissement et de Développement des Iles Loyauté).

"The goal is first to provide a service to the inhabitants of the islands," he said in a statement. "We want to make this airline a tool of accessibility."

Using a fleet of three DHC-6-300s and three Beech (twin turboprop) King Air 200s, Air Loyauté also serves Maré, Koné, Koumac, Touho, Île des Pins, and Île Art directly from its Nouméa Magenta hub.

To help boost its profitability, Air Loyauté recently began selling tickets itself having previously used partner - and competitor - Air Calédonie (TY, Nouméa Magenta) as its sales and distribution agent.