La Tontouta International Airport

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. The airport is in the municipality of Païta, approximately 52 km (32 mi) northwest of Nouméa. 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, which is based at the airport. In 2017, 529,349 passengers used the airport.[2]

Tontouta International Airport

Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorNew Caledonia Chamber of Commerce & Industry
ServesNouméa
LocationPaïta, New Caledonia, France
Hub forAircalin
Elevation AMSL52 ft / 16 m
Coordinates22°00′59″S 166°12′58″E
Websitewww.aeroports.cci.nc/fr/tontouta/
Map
NOU/NWWW
Location of airport in Païta , New Caledonia
NOU/NWWW
NOU/NWWW (Oceania)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
11/29 3,250 10,663 Asphalt
Statistics (2018)
Passengers538,791
Passenger traffic change 1.8%
Source : Aeroport.fr[1]

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:

  • VMF-212 operating Grumman F4F Wildcats
  • VMO-251 operating Grumman F4F Wildcats from June–August 1942

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.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger
AirlinesDestinations
Air New Zealand Auckland
Air Vanuatu Luganville, Port Vila
Aircalin Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne, Nadi, Osaka–Kansai, Papeete, Port Vila, Sydney, Tokyo–Narita, Wallis Island
Charter: Hangzhou, Tianjin
Qantas Brisbane, Sydney

Cargo
AirlinesDestinations
Pacific Air Express Brisbane

Statistics
Nouméa - La Tontouta[5]
Year Passengers Freight (tonnes) Commercial Aircraft
Movements
2000359,8395,2443,111
2001348,0255,0613,118
2002359,2935,0943,349
2003371,2475,1973,128
2004388,3085,2003,330
2005409,0965,5663,254
2006415,8135,4513,290
2007445,3055,6063,440
2008457,3876,2203,661
2009462,6985,8093,730
2010479,8036,2213,797
2011492,8306,2993,787
2012486,1715,6323,814
2013476,1744,9533,701
2014479,8434,8703,822
2015497,7184,8113,891
2016515,1664,4074,052
2017529,3494,2773,844

See also

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.

  1. "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2018" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. "Annual statistics". Archived from the original on 2006-11-25.
  3. Marine Air Group 25 and SCAT, William M. Armstrong, Arcadia Publishing, Charleston, SC, 2017, p.25
  4. "Airport Development (Australasia) - No. 911" (PDF). Momberger Airport Information. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  5. "Statistiques annuelles: Aéroport de Nouméa - La Tontouta". Union des Aéroports Français. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017. Retrieved 15 June 2018.

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