Air Tahiti Nui

Heaven is doing this with Air Tahiti Nui, surely the most delightfully old-fashioned carrier in the air, which takes your mind off the fear of flying. You feel like you are in the tropics the minute you step aboard - the seats are lagoon blue and the pillows canary yellow. The meal service in business class, however is as in an old French restaurant. No “chicken or fish?” tray pushing here. Instead, perfectly-seasoned courses are silver-served. What I liked best, the natty floor length Polynesian gowns the female stewards change into to serve dinner (the men wear vivid suits which somehow work well at 35,000 feet). Not recommended perhaps for overnight flying (no flat bed seats here) but for a luscious lunch in the air on flights from Australia or New Zealand, before arriving, relaxed that evening in Pape’ete, with a Tiare flower stuck behind your ear.