Fiji Airways to restore Nadi-Nouméa direct flights in September

Fiji's national flag carrier Fiji Airways has announced it will resume its direct connection to New Caledonia starting 22 September.

It comes over two years after deadly unrest in New Caledonia, which started mid-May 2024, forced international airlines to suspend their flights to the French Pacific territory.

The Nadi-Nouméa service will fly twice a week aboard Fiji Link's ATR-72-600 aircraft.

"New Caledonia is a stunning destination and an important market for Fiji Airways," Fiji Airways managing director and CEO Paul Scurrah said.

"Reinstating this service creates exciting new opportunities for travellers, whether visiting Fiji for our world-renowned hospitality or exploring the unique French Pacific culture of Nouméa."

Scurrah said the air connections also comes in response to a growing regional demand.

"[This is] based apart from tourism, on the fact that both New Caledonia and Fiji host some of the Pacific's most significant intergovernmental and development organisations, with staff, delegates, consultants and partners travelling regularly between (Nouméa and Suva)."

New Caledonia hosts the headquarters of the Pacific Community (SPC), which also has its main branch in Suva.

Suva is also the host of other significant regional organisations such as the Pacific Islands Forum, as well as the regional bases for several international organisations and agencies.

"Fiji Airways looks forward to supporting the connectivity needs of these organisations and the broader professional community that keeps the Pacific connected," Scurrah said.

The Nadi-Nouméa route also provides regional synergy in terms of added benefits to each company's respective networks, "providing travellers with onward connections across the Pacific, New Zealand, United States and Canada."

The restoration of Nadi-Nouméa direct flights is said to provide an additional capacity of some 10,000 seats per year on this route.

The Nadi-Nouméa direct route was initially introduced by Fiji Airways in November 2023.

On the same route, the other competitor is Air Calédonie International (AirCalin), which operates via a code-share agreement with French Polynesia's Air Tahiti Nui and further extends the connection possibilities to the United States (San Francisco, Los Angeles), Canada and Japan.