'Thank God!': First New Caledonia evacuation flight arrives in Australia

A plane full of elated and relieved Australian tourists who had been trapped in New Caledonia during a week of rioting and looting touched down in Brisbane late Tuesday.

Their Royal Australian Air Force C130 Hercules was the first evacuation flight to leave the French Pacific territory since unrest began on May 13.

"When we landed, it was just like 'Oh, thank God we're here!'" said Mary Hatten, who had spent the last week holed up in a Noumea hotel as opponents of French rule took to the streets.

New Caledonia's main international airport remains closed to commercial aircraft, stranding thousands of tourists like Hatten who flocked to the South Pacific isle looking for a slice of paradise.

They instead found themselves barricaded inside hotels with dwindling food supplies, as forces sent from Paris tried to quell protests, riots and looting fuelled by opposition to French rule.

Hatten said about 50-60 passengers were onboard the first flight including many children and pregnant women fleeing violence that has killed six and injured hundreds.

The Pacific territory of 270,000 people has been in turmoil since last week when violence erupted over French plans to impose new voting rules that would give tens of thousands of non-indigenous residents voting rights.

Hatten and her partner Phil arrived at Noumea Airport the day the unrest began. From the get-go, she told AFP, it was clear all was not well.

On the drive to the city "it looked very sketchy" she said. Scores of Indigenous Kanak protestors "lined the road, waving flags, burning tyres. It felt very uncomfortable".