Merpati resumes service to Dili
Merpati resumes service to Dili
DILI, East Timor (AFP): An Indonesian civilian aircraft with
government and airline officials aboard was the first plane to
land here Monday when East Timor's main airport reopened to
commercial flights.
The Merpati F-28 touched down at 12:35 p.m. (0435 GMT) at
Dili's Comoro airport, the scene of last year's panicked
evacuation at the onset of the sacking and burning of Dili by
pro-Indonesian militia and military.
The twin-engined F-28 carried some 30 Indonesian airline and
government, police and military officials to the UN-administered
territory as well as an MP from Jakarta.
There are still no regularly-scheduled commercial flights to
East Timor but the officials from Merpati were investigating the
possibility of resuming service.
Shortly before the flight landed UN Transitional
Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) officials raised the blue-
and-white UN flag on a new flag pole near the tarmac, where it
was saluted by 10 members of the Royal Australian Air Force
(RAAF).
Airport officials had earlier removed a large cement
Indonesian-language airport sign from the edge of the tarmac.
"We've opened the airport to regular public traffic," said
Group Captain Stewart Cameron, of the RAAF.
"It's a fairly potent symbol to the world that business has
resumed in East Timor," Cameron told journalists. "What we need
to do now is get the East Timorese involved in the airport."
An RAAF member directed the Merpati jet to its parking spot on
the tarmac, where two Royal New Zealand Air Force Huey
helicopters had touched down minutes earlier to reinstall their
door-mounted machine guns.
The RAAF still provides air traffic controllers and perimeter
defense for the airport.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, who heads UNTAET, embraced Piet Tallo,
governor of the neighboring Indonesian province of East Nusa
Tenggara, when he stepped off the aircraft.
Two officials from the National Council of Timorese
Resistance, Jose Ramos-Horta and Joao Carrascalao, also welcomed
the visitors, who bypassed UNTAET's new immigration check and
went directly to a briefing in the airport's VIP lounge.
They were told the airport toilets do not work and its
infrastructure is limited, but that the airport has been re-
opened for commercial aviation to assist in East Timor's economic
development.
An Australian charter airline operates three times a week from
Darwin to Dili, but has yet to be approved by UNTAET.
On Friday de Mello told journalists Merpati was "very
interested in resuming flights to Dili."
Until it ceased its service from the Indonesian cities of
Jakarta, Denpasar and Kupang in August, Merpati ran the only
regular commercial airline flights to East Timor.
The airline stopped landing in East Timor as violence
increased around the August 30 ballot in which East Timorese
voted for independence from Indonesia, which invaded the
territory in 1975.
Dili's airport became a busy military landing field with
round-the-clock arrivals of troops and supplies once
international peacekeepers began their deployment on Sept. 20.
The airport still serves as a base for air operations of the
International Force in East Timor (Interfet) and also hosts
flights by the United Nations and aid organizations.
De Mello said an airline associated with the Australian
carrier Qantas has also expressed interest in operating a regular
service to Dili.
He said UNTAET's immigration service would be established by
Monday, but that "customs may have to wait a bit longer."