The French military has repatriated 29 French Polynesian residents stranded in Australia since the Covid-19 outbreak in March.
French military repatriates French Polynesians from Sydney Photo: supplied FB
An Airbus A400M flew from Tahiti to Sydney to pick up the travellers who had registered with the French embassy after commercial flights had stopped.
The French High Commission in French Polynesia said it took the aircraft eight hours to fly back to Papeete.
All passengers had tested negative for Covid-19 before departure and on arrival they were transferred to accommodation provided by the health ministry for a two-week quarantine.
The High Commission said on the way to Australia the aircraft carried three passengers.
Confinement in government-sanctioned accommodation in French Polynesia has become voluntary after the administrative court ruled last week that French law applied.
According to the constitutional court of France failing to give an individual the choice to self-isolate amounts to a serious attack on liberty.
Reports from French Polynesia said while most returnees adhered to the rules, there have been several instances of people flouting self-isolation.
France has suffered more than 28,000 Covid-19-related deaths while French Polynesia has recorded none.
