Question 4718 — overseas

Summary

Ms. Mereana Reid Arbelot draws the attention of the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs to the worrying situation at the control center at the Tahiti-Faa'a aerodrome and its impact on France's international image. Indeed, for the first time in its history, the Tahiti-Faa'a control center, with its space of 12.5 million km2 (i.e. 2.3 times the EEZ of Polynesia, i.e. 23 times the surface area of ​​France) closed on the night of January 3 to 4, 2025 due to a lack of personnel. Several transoceanic flights were disrupted by this unprecedented situation. Flights transiting through the airspace delegated to France have had to change their route or delay their departure, causing operating problems and excess amplitude for their crews. This event caused questions from adjacent control centers: American, New Zealand and Chilean. In 2019, France, which had positioned itself to manage a no FIR (no flight information region which is an uncontrolled airspace) airspace of nearly 7 million km2, was well placed ahead of two South American countries. The covid-19 episode temporarily suspended discussions. But the closure of the only French control center in the Pacific, even momentarily, does not support these claims. In the month of February 2025 alone, no less than 19 shifts are planned with degraded operation, leading to a reduction in air navigation services provided to users and potentially risking a new closure of the center. However, solutions exist and are ratified in the memorandum of understanding signed in May 2024. The cost generated by the application of these solutions in Tahiti would be around 1 million euros for the year 2025. Furthermore, this situation calls for global reflection. At a time when all eyes are on the Indo-Pacific, French strategy in this region is undoubtedly discredited by the situation of the Tahiti-Faa'a control center. The Indo-Pacific region is the scene of rivalries between great powers, in which France strives to present itself as the third way. However, the closure of the control center and the threat of a recurrence of this situation are causing France to lose its real credit. She therefore asks him if France intends to provide adequate means, in particular by finding a solution to the situation at the control center at the Tahiti-Faa'a aerodrome, to achieve its ambition of being a balancing power in this region which Europe greatly needs.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

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