La Tontouta International Airport, also known as Nouméa – La Tontouta International Airport (french: Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta; ) is the main

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries around the world. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports and they must feature longer ...

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, and the military base for the

French Air Force The French Air and Space Force (AAE) (french: Armée de l'air et de l'espace, ) is the air and space force of the French Armed Forces. It was the first military aviation force in history, formed in 1909 as the , a service arm of the French Army; ...

based in New-Caledonia. The airport is in the municipality of

Païta Païta () is a commune in the suburbs of Nouméa in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. New Caledonia's international airport, La Tontouta International Airport, is located there. Geography ...

, approximately northwest of

Nouméa Nouméa () is the capital and largest city of the French special collectivity of New Caledonia and is also the largest francophone city in Oceania. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, a ...

. La Tontouta International Airport serves international flights, while Noumea Magenta Airport, located 38 km south-east within the city of Noumea, serves domestic flights. The airport is regularly served by four airlines, including

Aircalin Société Aircalin, also known as Air Calédonie International, is the flag carrier of the French collectivity of New Caledonia, with its headquarters in Nouméa. It operates scheduled services from its main base at La Tontouta International A ...

, which is based at the airport. In 2017, 529,349 passengers used the airport.

History

World War II

Tontouta Air Base was originally constructed by the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Seabees United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Force (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Depending upon ...

for the

Pacific Theater The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 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.

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

units based here included: * 64th Troop Carrier Squadron operating

Douglas C-47 Skytrain The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota (RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II and remained in ...

s in 1943. *

67th Fighter Squadron The 67th Fighter Squadron "Fighting Cocks" is a fighter squadron of the United States Air Force, part of the 18th Operations Group at Kadena Air Base, Japan. The 67th is equipped with the F-15C/D Eagle. Mission The 67th Fighter Squadron is one ...

operating

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by the ...

s from 17 March 1942 – 24 April 1943 B-17-e-41-2426-new-calidenoia

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

units based here included: *

VMF-212 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212 (VMFA-212) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Most recently known as the "Lancers", the squadron was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and fell under the command of Mar ...

operating

Grumman F4F Wildcat The Grumman F4F Wildcat is an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that entered service in 1940 with the United States Navy, and the British Royal Navy where it was initially known as the Martlet. First used by the British in the North Atlan ...

s *

VMO-251 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 (VMFA-251) was a United States Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornet squadron. Known as the "Thunderbolts", the squadron was deactivated on 23 April 2020. If current plans hold, the squadron is to be re-activated by 2025 as ...

operating Grumman F4F Wildcats from June–August 1942

Terminal expansion

Air France Boeing 747-400 at La Tontouta Airport, Noumea

Aircalin_Airbus_A330_at_La_Tontouta_Airport

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

jetbridge A jet bridge (also termed jetway, jetwalk, airgate, gangway, aerobridge/airbridge, skybridge, finger, airtube, expedited suspended passenger entry system (E-SPES), or its official industry name passenger boarding bridge (PBB)) is an enclosed, ...

s. 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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Statistics

References

External links

Aéroport international de Nouméa - La Tontouta
(official website) *French

Aeronautical Information Publication In aviation, an Aeronautical Information Publication (or AIP) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization as a publication issued by or with the authority of a state and containing aeronautical information of a lasting character e ...

for (

PDF Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...

) – NOUMÉA LA TONTOUTA
Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta
at

L'Union des Aéroports Français L'Union des Aéroports Français (UAF) - "The French Airports Association" in English - is a French organization created in 1938. As of March 2010, it has 134 members which operate 156 airports in metropolitan France and the French overseas departm ...

{{authority control Airports in New Caledonia Nouméa Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II Seabees