Protests in Nouméa Over Magenta Airport Closure
By Andrew Curran.
Peaceful protests have taken place in Nouméa opposing the relocation of flights operating to and from Magenta Airport (GEA) to La Tontouta (NOU). On October 10, 2025, a protest march organised by the Drehu Customary Coordination Committee took place in the capital. The organisers say around 1,500 people attended although not all took place in the march. No arrests were made.
The New Caledonia Government intends to shut down Magenta by the end of the year, primarily to save money. Magenta Airport mostly handles domestic and general aviation flights, seeing around 20 commercial aircraft movements per day. Both Air Calédonie and Air Loyauté use the airport as their base. However, both carriers are on notice about shifting.
“The company is actively preparing,” reads a September 2025 Air Calédonie press release.
La Tontouta is around 45 kilometres to the north of Magenta and is New Calédonia’s busiest airport. It handles the bulk of the country’s international traffic and is Aircalin’s base.
Both Aircalin and Air Calédonie are government-owned and both are in financial strife.
The Drehu Customary Coordination Committee is focused on stopping “the continuing deterioration of air and sea transport conditions affecting the populations of the Loyalty Islands,” a chain of four inhabited islands (including Lifou and Mare Islands) located to the east of the New Calédonia mainland.
The domestic carriers, Air Calédonie and Air Loyauté, link the islands to the country’s capital. The committee’s grievance appears to centre on La Tontouta being further out from Nouméa than Magenta, and less convenient to access. There is also the matter of cost. Inter-island ticket prices have been a long-running sore point for many islanders and the reason for previous protests.
The average income in New Calédonia is slightly above USD10,000. However, there is significant income inequality, with a poverty rate of around 19% and much higher poverty in the Loyalty Islands.
“Plane tickets are too expensive, flights are lacking in regularity,” Committee President Guillaume Waminya told the protesters.
The New Calédonia Government spends around XPF1 billion (USD9.7 million) annually keeping Magenta Airport open. It argues they could make significant long-term savings by shifting its operations to La Tontouta, which has undergone a series of upgrades. However, the government has failed to quantify the touted savings.
Whilst some locals may prefer Magenta Airport stays open, consolidation of operations at La Tontouta will ease the transfer process for international tourists, who make a significant contribution to New Calédonia’s economy.
Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for around 10% of New Calédonia’s GDP, with most visitors coming from Australia and New Zealand. The country was also a regular stopover port on the South Pacific cruise circuit. However, visitor numbers crashed during Covid-19 and any recovery was badly impacted by the long running civil unrest in Nouméa last year.
Both events have had a catastrophic impact on Aircalin’s and Air Calédonie’s finances, and the government continues to canvas a range of options to help its airline’s recover. Consolidating operations at the one airport and better servicing existing and future tourists, who invariably pay for their tickets in hard currencies, is one part of the solution.
The Drehu Customary Coordination Committee says it will continue to campaign against the close of Magenta Airport.
Photos: Nic Maclellan via X.