Airport blockades force Air Calédonie to file for bankruptcy

By Andrew Curran.

A last-minute agreement to lift an airport blockade has failed to stop New Caledonia's domestic airline Air Calédonie from filing for bankruptcy.

Air Calédonie’s directors decided to file for bankruptcy during a March 27, 2026, board meeting

"The company's financial situation is no longer tenable,” a media release issued after the meeting reads.

The decision follows the New Caledonia Government negotiating a deal for protestors to lift a month-long blockade of Ile des Pins Airport (ILP).

Flights between Nouméa and that airport will resume today, March 30. However, protestors continue to blockade the Loyalty Island airports of Mare (MEE), Lifou (LIF), and Ouvéa (UVE).

Air Calédonie running out of cash

Protestors shut down flights to all four airports in early March in a bid to reverse a government decision to shift Air Calédonie’s Nouméa operations from Magenta Airport (GEA) to La Tontouta Airport (NOU).

Since the blockades started, Air Calédonie has not operated any scheduled domestic flights.

The airline has three ATR72-600s and they normally fly from Nouméa to Ile des Pins, Mare, Lifou, and Ouvéa.

Two weeks ago, Air Calédonie director Samuel Hnepeune warned the blockades were causing the already struggling airline to lose even more money and filing for bankruptcy was a live possibility.

"We have little room for manoeuvre,” he said.

Bankruptcy gives Air Calédonie time to plan for recovery

Under local law, the bankruptcy filing will allow Air Calédonie to temporarily stop paying its debts and put together a recovery plan. The airline and its administrators have 45 days to develop this plan and present it to the local bankruptcy court. The court will then decide whether to accept or reject the plan.

Notwithstanding this latest development, Air Calédonie is resuming flights to Ile des Pins and intends to restart operations to the other airports when protestors end their blockades.

Increasingly, local politicians and business leaders are banding together to call for the blockades to end. If Air Calédonie goes out of business, these islands will lose their air link to Nouméa.

There are limited maritime options between New Caledonia’s outer islands and the mainland. An inter-island ferry service has only operated intermittently in recent months.

They say the prospects of the court accepting any recovery plan depends on those blockades ending, flights resuming, and shareholders pledging to continue supporting the carrier.

"The airfields must be re-opened," North Provincial politician Victor Tutugoro told Les Nouvelles Calédoniennes last week. "We must go back to negotiating.”

Concerted push for airport blockades to end

Air Calédonie’s shareholders include the New Caledonia Government (52.45%), the Loyalty Islands Provincial Government (26.21%), the North Provincial Government (14.55%), and the South Provincial Government (5.16%).

Those shareholders will continue financially supporting Air Calédonie during the initial stages of the bankruptcy, ensuring the airline can continue to operate.

But if the blockades continue and Air Calédonie’s financial situation deteriorates further, the court can reject the restructuring plan and order the airline’s liquidation.

When warning of the imminent bankruptcy proceedings, Hnepeune said Air Calédonie was losing around XPF10 million (USD96,000) per day and was within weeks of running out of cash.

In mid-March, the airline furloughed around half its workforce. More recent reports say the airline is cannot pay its remaining employees beyond the end of April.

Informing staff of last week’s board decision, Air Calédonie said “further commitment and effort will be required” from employees. The airline added that management and the board were hopeful of developing a viable recovery plan.

Photo: AI-Generated.

Contact the writer: andrew@aerosouthpacific.com