Nouméa Magenta Airport

Nouméa Magenta Airport
Aéroport de Nouméa-Magenta
Summary
Airport typePublic
OperatorDSEAC Nouvelle-Calédonie
LocationNouméa
Elevation AMSL9 ft / 3 m
Coordinates22°15′30″S 166°28′22″E / 22.25833°S 166.47278°E / -22.25833; 166.47278
Maps
Nouméa in New Caledonia
Nouméa in New Caledonia
GEA/NWWM is located in New Caledonia
GEA/NWWM
GEA/NWWM
Location of the airport in New Caledonia
GEA/NWWM is located in Oceania
GEA/NWWM
GEA/NWWM
GEA/NWWM (Oceania)
Runways
Direction Length Surface
m ft
17/35 1,250 4,101 Paved
Statistics (2018)
Passengers454,540
Passenger traffic changeIncrease 6.0%
Source: Aeroport.fr[1] AIP[2]

Nouméa Magenta Airport (French: Aéroport de Nouméa-Magenta; IATA: GEA, ICAO: NWWM) is a domestic airport on the main island of New Caledonia, an overseas collectivity of France in the southwest Pacific Ocean. The airport is 3 km (2 mi) east-northeast of the city centre of Nouméa, the capital,[2] approximately 38 km (24 mi) southeast of La Tontouta International Airport. In 2017, 428,679 passengers used the airport.

Air Calédonie has its head office on the airport property.[3][4]

In November 2025, the government of New Caledonia announced that the airport will close in March 2026, with all flights shifted to La Tontouta Airport.[5]

History

Terminal building at Nouméa Magenta Airport
  • 1931: First biplane flight on the beach in Magenta, located on the east coast of Nouméa.
  • 1934: Creation of L'Aéro-club Calédonien.
  • 1942: Arrival of the Poppy Force, a US Army division commanded by General Alexander Patch, making New Caledonia one of the main Pacific airbases for the US Army. A military airfield is built along the beach in Magenta by Seabees of Naval Construction Battalion 11 on the site of a former racetrack.
  • 1956: Opening of the airfield to civilian air traffic, two years after the creation of Transpac, the first domestic New Caledonian airline and forerunner of Air Calédonie, which has regular flights between Nouméa, the Isle of Pines and the Loyalty Islands.
  • 1970s: Construction of the first terminal, with a capacity of 100,000 people.
  • 2001: Completion and opening of the new terminal, increasing capacity to over 300,000 people.

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air Calédonie Île Art, Île-des-Pins, Koné, Koumac, Lifou, Maré, Ouvéa, Touho
Air Oceania Lifou,[6] Maré,[6] Ouvéa,[6] Tiga[6]

Statistics

PassengersYear200,000250,000300,000350,000400,000450,000500,0001995200020052010201520202025PassengersAnnual passenger traffic

See also

References

  1. ^ "Résultats d'activité des aéroports français 2018" (PDF). aeroport.fr. Retrieved 31 August 2019.
  2. ^ a b NWWM – Nouméa Magenta Airport NWWM. AIP from French Service d'information aéronautique, effective 19 February 2026.
  3. ^ "Renouvellement de Carte Résident Archived 2009-05-30 at the Wayback Machine." Air Calédonie. Retrieved on 8 October 2009. "Aérodrome de Magenta - BP 212 98845 Nouméa - Nouvelle Calédonie"
  4. ^ "Air Calédonie Contacts[permanent dead link]." Air Calédonie. Retrieved on 2 October 2009.
  5. ^ https://aerosouthpacific.com/blogs/news/noumea-magenta-airport-closing-march-2026
  6. ^ a b c d "Air Oceania modifie son programme de vols à destination de Lifou, Maré, Ouvéa et Tiga". Nouvelle-Calédonie la 1ère (in French). 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-06-01.