Aircalin (SB, Nouméa La Tontouta) will increase frequencies to Nouméa from Australia's east coast capital cities over the 2025 Southern Hemisphere winter to tap into typically strong holiday traffic. It follows a disastrous 2024 high season. Widespread civil unrest in May and the imposition of curfews saw travel demand to New Caledonia decline dramatically, and with ticket revenues plummeting Aircalin moved to reduce flights in a bid to cut costs.
The government recently lifted the curfews, which Aircalin and local tourism authorities say is an important step in encouraging visitors to return to the country.
"The lifting of the curfew signifies a return to normalcy," said the carrier's Australia and New Zealand country manager, Chris Thistlethwaite.
In July, Aircalin axed flights to Melbourne Tullamarine and trimmed thrice-weekly services to Brisbane International and Sydney Kingsford Smith to twice weekly. Flights to Auckland International, Nadi, Papeete, and Tokyo Narita also had schedule cuts.
"In response to growing demand, the airline plans to increase services during peak school holiday periods in April, June, July, August, September, and October 2025, expanding to three flights per week from [both Sydney and Brisbane]," a December 3 New Caledonia Tourism statement reads. "These additional flights, complemented by services from our codeshare partners, aim to make Nouméa more accessible."
Thistlethwaite told ch-aviation that there is currently no timeframe regarding the restart of the Melbourne route.
Separately, Aircalin is beginning twice-weekly Paris CDG flights (via Bangkok Suvarnabhumi) on December 11. Both airports are new destinations for Aircalin, and the Paris flights mark the first time the carrier has operated scheduled flights west of Southeast Asia. Aircalin will deploy one of its two A330-900Ns on the almost 26-hour flight.
