Prepare a special shipment
Select the nature of your package to learn about its conditions of transport:
Perishable goods must be in packaging appropriate to the product you wish to send and sufficiently resistant to protect the contents.
Air Tahiti sells a range of special packaging :
- Fruits and vegetable
- Bread
- Isotherm
In Tahiti, there are chilled and frozen storage facilities for your perishable goods.
> Find out more about cold storage.
Other conditions are applicable to consignments of:
- Fishery products and meats
- Plants and plant products
For more information, please read the following sections.
Fishery products (mussels, oysters, fish, shellfish, etc.) and meats can be transported on Air Tahiti flights provided they are packed in a container that meets the following requirements:
- Clean, odourless, airtight, icebox-type container. Cooler bags are not accepted.
- It must have no cracks, in order to prevent any leakage onto passengers' baggage or other cargo.
- Its opening and lid must be reinforced (e.g. with adhesive tape) to prevent any risk of leakage, loss or the introduction of illegal substances or objects into your package. For flights from the islands, packages are sealed after their contents have been inspected by an Air Tahiti agent.
- For handling reasons when loading the aircraft hold, iceboxes may not exceed 80 x 40 x 50 cm (31 x 15.5 x 19 in).
Cardboard boxes are not permitted because of the moisture produced by this type of product, which causes them to deteriorate and tear.
Frozen products, previously packed in plastic, may be transported in isotherm packaging specially designed for this purpose and only available for sale at the Air Tahiti Cargo Service.
Ice packs are the only permitted method of preservation. The use of ice cubes or flakes or solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) is not permitted.
In Tahiti, there are chilled and frozen storage facilities for your perishable goods.
> Find out more about cold storage.
Honey, royal jelly, propolis, pollen collected by bees, beeswax and used beekeeping equipment are subject to the other islands of French Polynesia. For more information, please contact the French Polynesia Biosecurity Department
There are strict rules governing the transport of fruit, vegetables, flowers and other plants or seeds between islands, aimed at limiting the spread of diseases and parasites in the islands.
All plants and products of plant origin to be sent as cargo are subject to phytosanitary (plant health) control. You will be asked to present a phytosanitary certificate.
For departures from Tahiti, your products need to be presented at the office of the Plant Protection Department (Département de la Protection des Végétaux) in Motu Uta.
For departures from the other islands, you must present your items at the Rural Development Service (Service du Développement Rural).
Only the SDR officer who inspects your products has the authority to decide whether a phytosanitary treatment is necessary.
The treatment and the issue of the phytosanitary certificate are free of charge.
> For further information on phytosanitary control and treatment, click here.
The transport of durian is forbidden unless the fruit is peeled entirely, packaged in a waterproof plastic container and transported in a cooler.
The packaging protecting your plants and plant products must be sufficiently resistant to withstand other hold cargo. They must also be resistant to moisture, the plants giving off steam.
Flowers must be transported in a carton.
Air Tahiti sells a range of special packaging which you can use to send your plants and plant products.