A Royal New Zealand Air Force C-130 Hercules flew out of Noumea on May 21, 2024, carrying New Zealanders who had been unable to get home from New Caledonia. It landed in Auckland. That flight was the first rescue effort since violent protests shut the territory’s main international gateway.
Nouméa-La Tontouta Airport (NOU) closed on May 14, 2024, after the clashes began. With it shut, stranded visitors had no commercial way off the French Pacific archipelago.
Australia followed within hours. Its government said it had secured authorization to charter two evacuation flights, and two Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules left Brisbane for Nouméa Magenta Airport (GEA), the island’s domestic airport.
France adds a flight
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a Facebook post that France had agreed to run its own flight to Australia on May 22, 2024, taking out more tourists. “French authorities have advised they will be conducting a flight to Australia today to enable more tourists to depart New Caledonia,” she wrote. “We will continue to work with partners to support the departure of all Australians who want to leave.”
AeroTime, the aviation outlet that reported the story, asked the French Ministry of the Interior and the Overseas for comment.
What set off the unrest
The violence in Nouméa arrived while French lawmakers were arguing over a constitutional reform in a parliamentary session. Supporters of New Caledonian independence oppose the change. Six people have died in the clashes, two of them gendarmes.
