East Timor unveils national airline
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Southeast Asia’s youngest country, East Timor, has unveiled its first national airline, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported. Timor Air plans to operate flights to Australia and Indonesia.
The airline’s Timorese-Australian founder and major shareholder, Jeremias Desousa, said he planned to build the airline from one leased 94-seat Embraer aircraft to owning four to five planes within five years.
“I intend to grow the airline cautiously,” Desousa was reported as saying in the country’s capital, Dili, where he unveiled the new carrier alongside East Timor’s President, Jose Ramos Horta. Desousa added that Horta’s government supported the airline and had accepted a free 10% stake in it.
Timor Air will launch its first flights on 2 February 2009, with direct daily services on the Dili-Darwin and Dili-Denpasar sectors. It is also seeking codeshare arrangements with Qantas, the report said.
Australian company, SkyAirWorld, has signed on as operator of Timor Air’s aircraft for the first year, providing pilots and crew, the Sydney Morning Herald report added.
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