As Noumea’s airports remain closed and New Caledonia civil unrest extends to a seventh day, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it is exploring possible options to bring stranded Kiwis home. This includes possibly using New Zealand and Australian Defence Force aircraft preparing to fly to the island. On Sunday evening the Ministry updated its Safe Travel advice, saying that airforce repatriation flights were ready to depart for New Caledonia, pending green light from France.
“New Zealand authorities have now completed preparations for flights using NZDF aircraft to bring home New Zealanders in New Caledonia while commercial services are not operating.” The Ministry was aware of 250 New Zealanders on New Caledonia, registered with the Safe Travel website . This comes as Australia also said it was also waiting for approval to send Defence Force aircraft to bring citizens home, while commercial flights were suspended.
Last night Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that aircraft were on standby to fly to the aid of trapped expats and travellers. “ French authorities advise the situation on the ground is preventing flights. We continue to pursue approvals,” she said.
There are thought to be around 300 Australians trapped in New Caledonia. A spokesperson for the NZ Ministry told the Herald it was working with the ADF to uplift international visitors who had been left without a way off the islands. “New Zealand is exploring possible options.
