Merpati to fly back to Dili

Merpati to fly back to Dili

DILI (AFP): Indonesia's Merpati Nusantara Airlines will resume it flights linking Dili to Denpasar in Indonesia's resort island of Bali on Friday, officials said here Wednesday.

"Merpati services would start again on Friday, from Dili to Denpasar with flights two times a week initially, on Fridays and Mondays," said Peter Galbraith, director of political affairs of the UN Transitional Administration in East Timor.

Merpati halted flights to Dili following the weeks of violence that shook East Timor in the wake of the Sept. 4 announcement of the pro-independence results of a UN-organized poll there.

Dili's Komoro airport was reopened for commercial flights in January but flights have so far been limited to charter planes.

A one-way ticket to Denpasar from Dili will cost US$206, said an employee at the Merpati office here, which is still under construction.