Indonesia wants to facilitate air travel within Timor-Leste

Dili Airport Traffic. Photo: Julito Gonzaga

 

 

According to Jornal Independente (20/11/2014), Timor-Leste Trade Atache to Indonesia, Jose Honorio said the Indonesian government has ordered two small planes to fly in Timor’s domestic flights.

 

“We will have two planes that will fly to Lospalos, Suai and Oecusse and other places [in the country] that need small planes to fly there,” said Mr Honorio in Jakarta on Tuesday (18/11).

 

The mentioned small planes would be addition to two Indonesian Airlines companies, Sriwijaya and Garuda that are already flying daily from Bali to Dili, the capital.

 

However, Mr Honorio added, the Indonesian side are still waiting for license for operation from Timor-Leste’s ministry of Transport and Communication.

 

Currently, there are four flights connecting Timor-Leste to the world. The daily flights are Air North from Darwin, Silk Air from Singapore, Sriwijaya from Bali and Garuda Indonesia from Bali.

 

The Government of Timor-Leste planned to extent its only Dili International Airport, sometime in 2015, to attract connecting flights from countries in the Pacific to Asia.