Around Dili

How to get to Dili Airport

Dili is served by one international airport. It’s not quite as flash as some of Asia’s other airports, but it has a runway where planes can land; what more do you need? The departures building is simple enough, with only a handful of check-in counters. There’s no need to trundle for miles along moving walkways or hunt down your gate; everything is there in front of you.

Welcome to Dili Airport, Timor-Leste

The arrivals building is much the same. Your plane touches down, you walk out into the glorious sun and within 30 seconds you’re confronted by the Immigration queue. A 30-day tourist visa can be bought on arrival in Dili. The visa costs $30 and you buy it at a window before Immigration. Once you have your visa you get yourself stamped for 30 days and wham you’re in Dili. You can have your visa extended by 30 days twice without having to leave.

For such a new country, Timor-Leste is surprisingly easy to reach. Although there isn’t an abundance of airlines flying to the new nation, it’s straightforward enough to make your way to Bali or Singapore and then connect to Dili.

Merpati serves Dili from Bali with daily return flights. A one-way ticket can be bought from the Merpati counter at Bali Airport for $225 or 2,118,500 rupiah. A return is $350. They will try and make you buy a return, but will sell you a one-way ticket if you ask politely. You can’t pay by credit card, though.

Whatever you may have heard about Merpati, the flight into Dili is painless. It takes about an hour and 40 minutes, they serve you lunch and everything runs smoothly. The plane usually leaves Bali at 10:05 am pending any last-minute delays. The return flight leave Dili at 1:35 pm and lands in Denpasar at 2:30 pm.

AustAsia Airlines also lands in Dili from Singapore, although the fare is a lot more expensive. At $850, unless you absolutely must fly from Changi Airport, there’s little to tempt tourists away from Merpati. The flights are twice a week, with an extra flight to be added in November.

AirNorth flies Darwin to Dili daily with one return flight costing up to AU$860 (much less if you book well in advance). On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays there’s an extra return flight.

Dili is easy to get to and the flight from Bali is moderately priced. There is really nothing stopping small waves of tourists from traveling to Timor-Leste. Furthermore, Dili Airport has only one tiny luggage belt. It’s simplicity like this that must surely be a selling point. Walking for miles in search of the correct luggage belt at major airports is the low-point of any trip.

Welcome to Dili Airport; we have but one luggage belt and not even a single escalator.