Flight 8G882, flying back from east China's Xiamen, landed in Timor-Leste's capital Dili at 07:00 local time on Saturday, finishing the first round trip on the first direct passenger flight route between China and Timor-Leste.
The Passenger route between the eastern Chinese city of Xiamen and Dili is operated by Dili Air, with two round-trip flights per month during the trial operation period from February to April this year.
The new route, with a one-way flight duration of about 5.5 hours, has been welcomed by Chinese travelers, who previously faced lengthy layovers in Indonesia or Singapore, which usually took 10 hours or more.
"When I was here last time, I felt the scenes here are so beautiful as if it was completely unexplored. So I'm coming here again as soon as they opened the first flight," said Chen Jianfeng, a Chinese tourist.
"This flight from Xiamen to Dili by Dili Air is also the first direct flight (between China and Timor-Leste). We are lucky that Dili Air provided us with Chinese translation, and we felt very sweet and very warm," said Zhang Manyi, a Chinese tourist.
Starting May, there will be a weekly round-trip flight connecting the two destinations.
Experts believe the opening of this direct passenger air route will boost economic and trade exchanges, as well as tourism ties, between the two countries.
Timor-Leste, which offers visa-on-arrival for Chinese passport holders, has seen a growing number of Chinese visitors coming to visit the country. According to Timor-Leste’s National Statistics Office, the number of Chinese arrivals in the first half of 2024 increased by 18.4 percent year-on-year.
"The sea in Timor-Leste is very beautiful. It is all blue and you get to see fish swimming around however deep the water is. I hope friends in China can come and see it more often," said Francisco Kalbuadi Lay, the country's vice-prime minister, minister coordinator for economic affairs and minister of tourism and environment.
"We have a lot of potential areas, like agricultural sector, mining, tourism, construction, and trade as well, and also industrial sectors. Chinese investors can also look this as a good opportunity or so," said Filipus Nino Pereira, minister of trade and industry.
First batch of passengers aboard China-Timor-Leste direct flight arrives in Dili
