[1] In June 2015, Groupe Dubreuil announced the launch of a project under the codename "Sunline", involving the creation of a new low-cost, long-haul airline to be based in France.

[11][12] In October 2016, the airline announced its next destination from Paris Orly with flights to Roland Garros Airport on Réunion island, beginning on 16 June 2017.

[15] By November 2017 however, the airline ultimately chose Papeete and San Francisco as its next destinations, with plans to begin serving them on 11 May 2018.

[17][18] In February 2018, after receiving regulatory approval to begin operations to the U.S., the airline formally announced the opening of reservations for flights between Paris Orly and Faa'a International Airport (Papeete) in French Polynesia, with flights stopping at San Francisco International Airport each way, and launching on 11 May 2018 as previously planned.

[19] The services included international traffic rights for passengers to travel solely to or from San Francisco in addition to transiting between Paris and Papeete.

[24] Groupe Dubreuil also announced that it had allocated deliveries for the larger A350-1000 variant to the airline, initially with one each in 2021 and 2022,[23][25] but was later reported to have been adjusted for both A350-1000s to be delivered during 2021.

[28][29] The airline had not decided which São Paulo airport it would serve between either Guarulhos or Viracopos International Airport, though the airline proposed a June 2021 start date in its application for the traffic rights, with the possibility of an expedited start date during December 2020 by chartering an aircraft from Air Caraïbes.

[31] Shortly after, the airline instead suspended its commercial flights to French Polynesia after 15 March 2020, with the initial intention of resuming them on 10 April 2020.

[37] The distance of the flight surpassed the record of Air Tahiti Nui, which initially took the record for its flight from Papeete to Paris Charles de Gaulle earlier that March, with Air Tahiti Nui's Boeing 787-9 traveling a great-circle distance of 15,715 kilometres (9,765 mi).

[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52] Additionally, French Bee continued operating its flights to French Polynesia with the intermediate stop occurring in Pointe-à-Pitre or a Canadian airport instead of in San Francisco, though the airline did not pursue international traffic rights to allow passengers to travel solely to or from Canada.

[66] French Bee is a subsidiary of Groupe Dubreuil, which is also the parent company of Air Caraïbes, and is headquartered in Bellevigny, France.

[80] Seats in both the Premium and Economy cabins of French Bee's aircraft are equipped with an in-flight entertainment touchscreen system by Zodiac Aerospace.

Air Tahiti Nui in particular expressed skepticism toward the long-term sustainability of French Blue's low-cost and long-haul business model, claiming that the concept had not yet proven its success.

[25] Observers additionally felt that the infrastructure for tourism on the islands, including hotel vacancy or capacity on domestic inter-island services, would be unable to support the increase in visitors.

[90] In contrast to the increased tourist volume from Europe and the United States, tourism from Japan, Australia, and New Zealand dropped during the same period.