Шығыс Тимордың Дилі Халықаралық Әуежайы тарихы

International airport in Dili, East Timor

Dili Airport , officially Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport (Aeroporto Internacional Presidente Nicolau Lobato, ), and formerly Comoro Airport , is an international airport serving Dili, the capital city of East Timor. Since 2002, the airport has been named after Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978), an East Timorese politician and national hero.

The airport is located in the suco of de, which is part of the Dom Aleixo administrative post, in the western suburbs of Dili. It faces the Ombai Strait to its north and west, and the Comoro River to its east. Its runway (08/26) runs broadly east west.

The airport was built prior to World War II by the colonial administration of the then Portuguese Timor. Initially, it had an runway. It also soon became an operating base for Transportes Aéreos de Timor (TAT), which was founded in July 1939 as the colony's national airline. In May 1939, the Portuguese government gave permission to Qantas to operate a Darwin to Dili flight. However, due to objections from the Japanese government, the Qantas services were postponed for more than a year. Eventually, in December 1940, the fortnightly Qantas Darwin to Batavia service was authorised to stop in Dili. The following month, Dili replaced Kupang as the stopover for Qantas's fortnightly Darwin to Singapore service. As compensation, Dai Nippon Airways of Japan was permitted to operate six trial flights from Palau to Dili between December 1940 and June 1941. In October 1941, the Japanese government announced plans to introduce regular air services between Tokyo and Dili, beginning the next month. All of these flights were operated by flying boats, not by land based aircraft needing to use a landing strip. and was and still is equipped with a much longer runway, became the colony's main airport, including for international flights. Dili airport was used for domestic services.

During the Indonesian occupation after 1975, the airport at Baucau was placed under the control of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, although at least nominally it remained accessible to large civilian airliners. Dili airport became the territory's principal civilian airport. In 1978, the Indonesian administration started work on rebuilding Dili airport, which it renamed as Comoro Airport The work included the construction of a new passenger terminal building (without any custom, immigration and quarantine (CIQ) facilities), and the lengthening of the runway to accommodate Fokker F28s. In October 1978, Indonesia's State owned flag carrier, Garuda Indonesia, inaugurated a Jakarta–Dili–Jakarta service. The full itinerary, which, initially, was flown three times a week, was Jakarta–Yogyakarta–Denpasar/Bali–Dili–Kupang–Denpasar/Bali. Tickets could be sold only to passengers who had a 'letter of transit' approved by a 'proper authority'. The leg from Jakarta to Denpasar/Bali was operated by a McDonnell Douglas DC 9, and that from Denpasar/Bali to Kupang by a Fokker F28. A connecting flight from Denpasar/Bali back to Jakarta was flown by a Douglas DC 8. The rebuilding work at the airport was completed in 1981. Early the following month, all flights into Dili were suspended. Under international pressure, the President of Indonesia, B. J. Habibie, announced on 12 September 1999 that Indonesia would withdraw its soldiers from the territory, and allow an Australian led international peacekeeping force, INTERFET, to enter. began arriving at Dili airport from Darwin in five RAAF and RNZAF C 130Hs, Although by then the airport terminal departure lounge had been wrecked, the VIP lounge was one of the few buildings in Dili still intact. A company of Gurkhas from the 2nd Battalion, Royal Gurkha Rifles, arrived in the early hours of 21 September 1999. The following day, 22 September 1999, INTERFET secured the airport.

By 2000, the airport had suffered serious damage in general, due to inadequate maintenance followed by the destruction of equipment in 1999 and excessively heavy use in 1999/2000. On 28 February 2000, INTERFET handed over command of military operations to United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET), which also assumed responsibility for the administration of the territory. UNTAET then began a wide ranging rehabilitation programme for East Timor's ports and airports, and subsequently a longer term sustainable development programme. On 25 January 2000, Airnorth switched to regular commercial services between Darwin and Dili, with eleven return flights a week. Later that year, Merpati resumed flights to Dili from Kupang and Denpasar/Bali, and Qantas subsidiary Airlink began regular flights. In May 2006, the airport was temporarily placed under the control of the Australian Defence Force for the purposes of Operation Astute. As of mid 2011, commercial traffic at the airport included a daily and a twice weekly flight to Denpasar/Bali, a flight to Darwin 5 days per week, and a thrice weekly flight to Singapore. The airport was also being used by the United Nations, the military, and helicopters servicing the petroleum industry. During the 2010s, the number of aircraft movements to and from Darwin and Singapore were generally steady, but movements between Dili and Denpasar/Bali greatly increased after 2013. As of late 2019, there were twice daily scheduled small jetliner flights between Dili and Denpasar/Bali, and on weekdays from and to Darwin, with daily Darwin flights on weekends. Scheduled flights between Dili and Singapore had been suspended since March 2019, following the collapse of a codeshare arrangement between Air Timor and SilkAir of Singapore; they resumed on 31 October 2019 under a partnership between Air Timor and Drukair of Bhutan. Smaller aircraft, such as a DHC 6, were operating domestic services to Same, Atauro, Baucau, Fuiloro, Oecusse, and Suai. Helicopters were flying to Bau Undane, where there was an oil field, and a chartered service was being flown between Dili and Denpasar/Bali. Similar charter flights were operated in September and December 2020, and in March, July, September During 2022, the company flew and scheduled further charter services, and was said to want to continue to operate, and even reinforce, its Lisbon–Dili connection.

as of 2016, the airport's facilities included a passenger terminal building divided into three sections (arrival, departure and VIP), one runway, and four exit taxiways. Two years later, in 2015, the IFC revised the proposal, after studying the traffic forecast, possible runway developments, and the landside area, including the terminal building. In particular, the IFC formulated two options for development of the runway. In 2018, similar comments were made in another report, focusing on the national tourism industry and also published by The Asia Foundation. The same year, however, the governments of East Timor and Japan began discussions over a planned redevelopment of the airport, including improvements to the passenger terminal, control tower and roadworks. By late 2019, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was supporting the plan, and the government of Japan had approved it. In October 2019, the government of East Timor approved a Dili Airport Master Plan presented by IFC, and in October 2021 the two governments signed an exchange of notes confirming a grant of approximately $44 million from Japan for the construction of a two storey passenger terminal building of based on the projected number of airport passengers as of 2030, and an accompanying power station. The total amount of Japanese assistance for the project, including for additional preparation works, would be more than $46 million. The project funded by the loan was planned to include the extension of the runway from to , and the construction of a new ATC tower, taxiways, aprons, and an aeronautical ground lighting system. as of August 2023, the first stage of the redevelopment project was underway, and expected to be completed in 2024.

On 16 August 1983, Fretilin guerrillas attacked the military section of the airport, killing 18 Indonesian soldiers. In response, and as part of a larger military offensive, Indonesian forces carried out several large massacres: of 200 300 civilians near the town of Viqueque, and at least 500 civilians in villages near Mount Bibileu.