La_Tontouta_Airport

La Tontouta International Airport

La Tontouta International Airport

Airport in New Caledonia, France

La Tontouta International Airport, also known as Nouméa – La Tontouta International Airport (French: Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta; IATA: NOU, ICAO: NWWW), is the main international airport in New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean, as well as the military base (Base aérienne 186 Nouméa) for the French Air Force based in New Caledonia.

Quick Facts Tontouta International Airport Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta, Summary ...

The airport is located in the municipality of Païta, approximately 37 km (23 mi) northwest of Nouméa. La Tontouta International Airport serves international flights, while Nouméa Magenta Airport, within the city of Nouméa, serves domestic flights. The airport is regularly served by four airlines, including Aircalin, which is based at the airport. In 2017, 529,349 passengers used the airport.[2]

History

World War II

Tontouta Air Base was originally constructed by the United States Navy's Seabees for the Pacific Theater of the Second World War. The base had two runways numbered 3/21 and 11/29. The base reverted to local (French) control after the war and today's remaining runway is aligned on 11/29.[3]

United States Army Air Forces units based here included:

Boeing B-17E Flying Fortress of the 11th Bomb Group, 43d Bomb Squadron at Tontouta in August 1942

United States Marine Corps units based here included:

Terminal expansion

An Air France Boeing 747-400 at La Tontouta Airport in February 2000.
An Air Calin Airbus A330-200 at the airport in July 2011, with the terminal redevelopment underway in the background.
A garden on the ground floor of the terminal.

A major expansion of the airport's terminal was completed in 2012 after several years of work. The project resulted in a significant increase in the terminal's size and included a new arrivals area, a larger check-in area and the installation of two jetbridges.[4] The terminal now has five stands capable of handling commercial jet aircraft, two of which are served by the new airbridges and three of which utilise stairs to access the aircraft. In addition, the airport has several more stands designed to handle smaller aircraft.

2024 New Caledonia unrest

In response to the 2024 New Caledonia unrest, Nouméa's international airport was closed until 21 May 2024. Due to the airport's closure, Air New Zealand cancelled its flights to Nouméa scheduled for 18 and 20 May.[5]

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

More information Airlines, Destinations ...

Cargo

More information Airlines, Destinations ...

Statistics

Annual passenger traffic at NOU airport. See Wikidata query.
More information Year, Passengers ...

See also

References

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. [1]
    "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2018" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. [2]
    "Annual statistics". Archived from the original on 2006-11-25.
  3. [3]
    Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT, William M. Armstrong, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2017, p.25
  4. [4]
    "Airport Development (Australasia) - No. 911" (PDF). Momberger Airport Information. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. [5]
    "New Caledonia's Nouméa airport is closed until Tuesday, Air New Zealand says". RNZ. 17 May 2024. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 17 May 2024.
  6. [6]
    Curran, Andrew (9 May 2024). "Air Vanuatu pauses ops as lessor files insolvency petition". ch-aviation. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  7. [7]
    "Aircalin to restart Melbourne flights after 3 years". Travel Weekly. 16 August 2023. Retrieved 16 August 2023.
  8. [8]
    "FIJI AIRWAYS RESUMES NEW CALEDONIA SERVICE FROM NOV 2023". Aeroroutes. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  9. [9]
    "Statistiques annuelles: Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta". Union des Aéroports Français. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.

Media related to La Tontouta International Airport at Wikimedia Commons
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