History
Aero Dili was founded on 21 June 2018 [1] by Lourenço de Oliveira, a native of Atauro. [6] [7] De Oliveira has a background in maritime transport; [7] [8] he has since been the owner of Dili's two casinos, and has made investments in other industries, including aquaculture and agriculture. [9] [10]
Before deciding to invest in Timor-Leste's aviation industry, an initiative he later described as "... a dream come true," the founder had also studied aviation processes in other countries for twenty years. [6]
The airline's first income-earning activity, under a memorandum of understanding with the government made in January 2018, was to acquire and make available to the Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL) a Cessna 172P aircraft, together with pilots to fly it. The aircraft arrived in Timor-Leste in February 2018, and was put to work patrolling the Timor Sea. [11]
Later that year, Aero Dili was the first airline in Timor-Leste to be granted an air operator's certificate (AOC) to conduct civil domestic services. [3] It commenced civil operations on 30 August 2018. [1]
Initially, the airline operated its civil aviation services using a small fleet of Cessna light aircraft flown by two fully qualified pilots, one of them the country's first-ever female pilot. [6] [12] By January 2019, it was offering six domestic flights daily between Dili and seven other ports. [12]
Later, Aero Dili also provided air services as a virtual international carrier, by chartering aircraft wet leased from Indonesia AirAsia and Sriwijaya Air. [10]
On 11 August 2022, the airline carried out a successful experimental international technical landing, using its Cessna 207 aircraft, at El Tari Airport in Kupang, Indonesia. [2] [8] It was the first ever international flight by an Timor-Leste registered aircraft. [8]
Aero Dili announced, at a press conference held on 9 December 2022, that it intended to start international operations of its own in 2023, using an aircraft leased from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise. A second leased aircraft was to join the fleet after six months, and a third one in two and a half years. [13] These plans represented an investment of US$20 million. [10]
The airline also procured the necessary certificate of registration (COR) and certificate of airworthiness (COA) from the Civil Aviation Authority of Timor-Leste (AACTL) in mid-March 2023. [8] [14]
Aero Dili had negotiated with several leasing companies over the leasing of aircraft. The first two negotiations had not been able to go ahead, because the prospective lessors had been concerned about the weaknesses of Timor-Leste's aviation system and its legislative framework. [9] [10]
The first of Aero Dili's leased aircraft, an Airbus A320 that had been operated by Bangkok Airways, and reconfigured to carry only 162 passengers, arrived in Dili on 20 March 2023. [8] [14] Upon arrival, it became the first commercial jet aircraft to be based in Timor-Leste. [8] It was also the main attraction at an official launch of the airline's international services, featuring speeches by the President of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, and the country's Minister of Transport and Communications, José Agustinho da Silva, who had been one of the 17 passengers on board the flight. [6] [7] [8] [15]
On 12 May 2023, the A320 operated Aero Dili's first scheduled international flights, between Dili and Denpasar/Bali, Indonesia, [16] [17] and in February 2024 it was used to inaugurate a scheduled service between Dili and Singapore. [18] On 14 February 2025, the same A320 operated a new route to Xiamen, China. The route was scheduled to operate twice per month, and then upgrade to once a week service with effect from May 2025. [19]
In January 2025, Aero Dili took delivery of its first Airbus A319, which had previously been flown by China Eastern Airlines. [20] The A319 is registered 4W-AAO, and arrived in Dili on 21 March 2025. [21] Three days later, on 24 March 2025, it worked its maiden Aero Dili revenue flight from Dili to Oecusse, [20] and then flew a round trip to Denpasar. [22] By late April 2025, it was operating all four of Aero Dili's jet routes, to Oecusse, Denpasar, Singapore, and Xiamen, while the company's A320 was undergoing scheduled maintenance. [22]
As of mid-2025, the airline was also planning to introduce flights to Melbourne and Darwin in Australia. [20] [23]
