Dili, March 22 (AseanAll) — Timor-Leste’s airline, Aero Dili, made its inaugural international flight on March 20 with its sole jet aircraft, an Airbus 320. This is a significant event for Timor-Leste.
Photo courtesy of Antonio Sampaio
According to the aviation media ch-aviation, Aero Dili has secured 4W-AAL (msn 3672) on a two-year lease from DAE Capital. The 14.42-year-old aircraft formerly flew for Bangkok Airways as HS-PPO and went into maintenance at Kuala Lumpur International in the fourth quarter of 2022 before ferrying to Bangkok Don Mueang and onto Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta earlier this month.
On March 20, bearing Aero Dili livery, the A320 flew into Dili. This followed Aero Dili securing its certificate of registration (COR) and certificate of airworthiness (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste (AACTL) in mid-March. While undergoing maintenance, 4W-AAL was reconfigured to seat just 165 passengers.
"Aero Dili has successfully obtained its own Airbus A320 aircraft," President Director Lourenco de Oliveira said. "I'd like to take this moment to say that the efforts are not mine alone. It has involved many people with the same dream as mine - developing Timor-Leste's airline industry."
José Ramos-Horta, the Nobel Peace prize winner and current president of Timor-Leste, has said that de Oliveira is a respected local businessman with a background in maritime and air transport. Aero Dili was founded in 2018 but to date has only operated scheduled services around Timor-Leste using Cessna (single piston) aircraft. Last year, using a Cessna172 SkyHawk, de Oliveira operated a trial flight between Dili and Kupang, the first ever international flight by a Timor-Leste registered aircraft. De Oliveira called that flight a "technical requirement" needed to secure permission to operate its own A320 flights.
The A320-200 will initially begin scheduled services between Dili's President Nicolau Lobato International Airport and Denpasar before venturing into other markets.
The service connected the Timorese capital of Dili with the Indonesian island of Bali, according to a report by the Portuguese news agency Lusa.
Regular flights begin next week, the airline’s executive director Lourenço Oliveira said, with daily connections to Jakarta and Singapore from 28 March.
He added that negotiations are underway to start flights between Timor-Leste and Australia and that the airline also hoped to offer flights to the Philippines and China.
Oliveira has invested US$10 million in the airline, according to Lusa. Timor-Leste’s President José Ramos-Horta told the agency that the government should subsidise the company to ensure its competitiveness.
Besides the A320, Aero Dili operates two Cessna aircraft.
