Air Tahiti Nui Appoints Okubo-Champoux Travel Associated as GSA for Canada.

Business Editors/Travel & Airline Writers

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 3, 2002

Air Tahiti Nui, the market leader in North America to French Polynesia air transportation, announced today that it has appointed Okubo-Champoux Travel Associated as the airline's General Sales Agent for Canada. The announcement was made by Wally Sumner, the airline's Vice President-North America, who noted that Canada is growing in importance as a source of customers for the airline's services to Tahiti.

"After extensive analysis, we have determined that Okubo-Champoux will provide the sales and administrative services that Air Tahiti Nui requires throughout Canada," Sumner said. "As we increase our capacity from Los Angeles to Papeete, Canada is a logical and very fertile market for both business and leisure travelers to French Polynesia," he added.

Guy Champoux, President of the firm, has had extensive experience in travel marketing in North America for over 20 years, primarily in sales, marketing and promotions. For the past 2 years, he was Director-Western Canada for a major wholesaler where he opened the Vancouver branch office. He also has had retail travel agent experience and spent 3 years working with Qantas Airways where he was District Sales Manager-Eastern Canada. Along with his partner Reiko Okubo, an expert in tourism in Japan and an experienced golf course administrator, the principals understand the cultural nuances of the airline's key markets, according to Sumner, "Fluent in French, English and Japanese, Okubo-Champoux is ideally suited to represent Air Tahiti Nui throughout the length and breadth of Canada."

"The opportunity to represent Air Tahiti Nui provided a perfect fit for our Company," said Champoux. "With over 12 years of experience in selling the South Pacific, we have excellent knowledge of the carrier and the region, and we intend to aggressively sell French Polynesia and Air Tahiti Nui in a market where the destination has high name recognition and appeal."

Air Tahiti Nui has grown from a 1 aircraft fleet providing 3 weekly flights between Los Angeles and Papeete when it inaugurated service in November 1998 to a fleet of 3 A-340 aircraft today which will provide 8 weekly services to Papeete this summer from Los Angeles. On May 5th, the airline will also inaugurate nonstop service between Los Angeles and Paris. As a key force in French Polynesia's economic development, Air Tahiti Nui also flies between Papeete and Tokyo, Osaka and Auckland while providing service to Australia via code-share with Qantas.

Members of Canada's travel trade are invited to contact Air Tahiti Nui at the toll-free number 1-877-TAHITI-N (1-877-824-4846) or via e-mail at [e-mail].