Winston Peters, the minister of foreign affairs, has canceled his trip to New Caledonia because of the instability that has divided the French Pacific region.
Later this week, Peters was scheduled to travel to Nouméa, the capital, with a group of other ministers.
La Tontouta International Airport in Nouméa is predicted to stay closed until at least 5:00 PM (local time) today.
As the National Assembly in Paris got ready to vote on a constitutional amendment for New Caledonia that the administration had proposed, there was rioting in Nouméa.
Monday saw protests, marches, and run-ins with law enforcement occur throughout New Caledonia, with Nouméa suburbs serving as focal areas.
Several violent altercations between militants advocating for independence and law enforcement continued into the evening.
According to Peters, officials were trying to arrange a new date for the visit.
Additionally, Aircalin, a New Caledonian airline, has canceled a flight that was scheduled to depart Auckland for Nouméa on Tuesday afternoon.
At 2:00 pm, Aircalin flight SB411 was scheduled to take off from Auckland.
The airline promised to update its website as soon as it had information about rescheduling.
Aircalin announced that flight SB410 from Noumea, scheduled to arrive in Auckland on Tuesday at 1:40 PM, has also been canceled.
The arrivals display at Auckland Airport, however, showed no information about any flight changes as of noon.
At Auckland Airport, there is no notice on the arrival board regarding the cancelation of the flight.
In the meanwhile, before its next flight to Noumea on Saturday, May 18, which departs at 8.25 a.m., Air New Zealand is monitoring the situation.
An airline spokesman stated that the flight is still planned to leave on time.
