Baucau Airport Explained

Baucau Airport
Iata:BCH
Icao:WPEC
Wmo:97395
Type:Military / Public
Owner-Oper:Government of East Timor
City-Served:Baucau, East Timor
Location:, Baucau
Elevation-F:1,777
Elevation-M:542
Coordinates:-8.485°N 126.3989°W
Pushpin Map:East Timor#Timor
Pushpin Map Alt:Location of airport in East Timor##Location of airport in Timor
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of airport in East Timor##Location of airport in Timor
Pushpin Relief:y
Pushpin Label:BCH/WPEC
Metric-Rwy:y
R1-Number:14/32
R1-Length-M:2,509
R1-Length-F:8,233
R1-Surface:Asphalt
Footnotes:Sources: AIP Timor-Leste,[1] DAFIF,[2] WFP[3]

Baucau Airport (Portuguese: Aeroporto de Baucau,,), formerly Cakung Airport, is an unattended and mostly unused airport near Baucau, East Timor. It is the largest airport in East Timor and has a much longer runway than Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, long enough to handle large commercial airliners.[4] [5]

Location

The airport is located on a plateau about from the centre of Baucau, and at the western edge of the suco of, part of the Baucau administrative post. To the north is Wetar Strait, and to the south is a range of mountains.[6] [7] The runway (14/32) runs broadly northwest to southeast.

History

1946–1975

The airport was built by the colonial administration of the then Portuguese Timor in the aftermath of World War II. Construction began in 1946, and for the most part was carried out manually, with thousands of Timorese preparing the runway by hand.[8]

The then Australian consul to the colony, Charles Eaton, who took up his post in January 1946, was a retired officer of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). He had been involved in the RAAF bombing of Timor during the war. While serving as consul, he became an unofficial advisor to the colony on civil aviation matters. Soon after his arrival, the Governor,, asked him to inspect the proposed site of the airport. On a subsequent visit to Australia, he lobbied the Chief of Air Staff and Director of Aviation of the RAAF to ensure that the airport was equipped with the best available technology.[8]

In May 1947, the airport was opened. The persons invited to the opening ceremony included Resident C.W. Schuller, the head of the colonial administration in Dutch (West) Timor. He noted that Baucau was clearly designed as an international airport and rival to Penfui Airport in Kupang, Dutch Timor, which was then a staging post on flights between Australia and Java, but not yet officially an international facility. In late 1947, Ruas told Schuller that Lockheed Constellation aircraft operating the Darwin–Singapore–Hong Kong route were expected to stop in Baucau from 1 January 1948.[9]

As of March 1948, no such stopovers had occurred, but plans for a Sydney–Darwin–Baucau–Shanghai–Hong Kong route were said by Schuller to be 'getting stronger'. Schuller also noted that local airline Transportes Aéreos de Timor (TAT) was expected soon to start flying Douglas DC-3 or Lockheed Hudson aircraft. However, subsequent reports by Dutch officials in 1948 and 1949 commented that at that time nothing had come of any of these plans.[9]

Eventually, international flights did start serving Baucau Airport.[10] During the rest of the Portuguese colonial era, the airport was the colony's main airfield.[11] As of 1960, TAT was operating international flights between Baucau and Darwin, using small de Havilland airliners: either a Dove or a Heron. On 26 January 1960, the Heron flying one of these services crashed into the Timor Sea. In 1963, work on adapting the runway to make it capable of handling Boeing 707s was completed, although the airport was still not equipped with an instrument landing system.[12]

As of 1964, TAT was using a chartered Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) Fokker F27 Friendship to operate the Baucau to Darwin flights, every week.[13] In 1967, TAT was operating flights between Baucau and Oecusse, and between Baucau and Darwin, using two Doves.[14] As of 1969, TAT was again using a chartered TAA F27 to fly the Baucau to Darwin route.[15]

In the early 1970s, Baucau was the very last stop before Australia on the "hippy trail" from Europe.[16] In 1974 and 1975, there were scheduled TAT domestic services between Baucau and Dili, and the Baucau to Darwin services flown for TAT by TAA had become thrice-weekly.[17] [18] After Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin at the end of 1974, the flights between Baucau and Darwin were suspended for a time.[12] Due to the political circumstances in Portuguese Timor, the very last such flight was on 7 August 1975.

An F27 was due to land in Baucau from Darwin on 11 August 1975, with Fretilin political party leader José Ramos-Horta aboard. On the evening of 10 August 1975, however, an opposing political party, the Timorese Democratic Union (Portuguese: União Democrática Timorense|links=no (UDT)), staged a coup d'état attempt in Dili and seized several strategic locations there, including Dili airport. An Australian TAT pilot, Roger Rudduck, who was involved in the coup, then sent radio messages for the UDT coup organisers from the Dili airport control tower to the Commander of RAAF Base Darwin and the Flight Services Unit at Darwin Airport. The messages advised that there had been a coup in Dili, and that it would be unsafe for the F27 to land in Portuguese Timor. The 11 August 1975 flight therefore never took off, with the intended result that Ramos-Horta was left stranded outside the colony.[19]

As of late August and early September 1975, the airport at Baucau was under the control of the UDT. However, armed skirmishing was underway between the UDT and Fretilin to the west of Baucau.[20]

1975–2000

On 9 December 1975, 156 Indonesian Air Force troops of the Kopasgat infantry and special forces corps, together with other Indonesian troops, parachuted into Baucau as part of the Indonesian invasion of East Timor. The objective of the Kopasgat troops was to capture the airport.[21] The following day, 10 December 1975, Baucau fell to the Indonesians.[22] As a consequence, the airport was taken over by the Indonesian military and closed to civilian traffic,[10] although at least nominally it remained accessible to large civilian airliners such as Airbus A300s, Boeing 747s and McDonnell Douglas DC-10s.[23]

During the ensuing Indonesian occupation, the airport was used by the Indonesian Air Force.[24]

In June 1999, ahead of that year's referendum on East Timorese independence administered by United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), the United States undertook assessments of the airport to determine whether it could handle Lockheed C-141 and Boeing C-17 operations.[25] After the result of the referendum was announced on 4 September 1999, violent clashes, instigated by a suspected anti-independence militia, sparked a humanitarian and security crisis in the region.[26] On 6 September 1999, at the request of the UN and in coordination with Indonesian officials, the Australian Defence Force executed Operation Spitfire, under which RAAF C-130 Hercules aircraft were used to evacuate UNAMET staff, foreign nationals and refugees from the Baucau and Dili airfields to Darwin, Australia.[5] [27]

Subsequently, the International Force East Timor (INTERFET), a multinational non-United Nations peacemaking task force, was organised to address the humanitarian and security crisis.[28] On 22 September 1999, INTERFET secured Baucau Airport.[5] [29] An airbridge was then created there to support a major expansion of an airbridge INTERFET that had already established between Darwin and Dili.[25] No. 382 Expeditionary Combat Support Squadron RAAF assumed responsibility for the operation of the airport, and No. 2 Airfield Defence Squadron RAAF provided security.[29]

On 18 November 1999, an Air Macau Airbus A320 became the first Portuguese aircraft to visit East Timor for 24 years, when it landed at Baucau with 67 Timorese refugees and direct humanitarian aid to the National Council of Timorese Resistance (Portuguese: Conselho Nacional de Resistência Timorense|links=no (CNRT)). Coincidentally, the Airbus's arrival took place on the 65th anniversary of the first ever arrival of a Portuguese aircraft in the then Portuguese Timor: on 18 November 1934, a de Havilland DH.85 Leopard Moth crewed by pilot and mechanic landed at the original Dili airport, now part of the site of East Timor's Nicolau Lobato Presidential Palace, at the end of a 14-day long flight from Amadora, near Lisbon.[30]

2000–present

From 28 February 2000, when INTERFET handed over command of military operations to United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET),[29] until 2012, the airport was a key logistics hub for various UN missions based in East Timor.[24]

Soon after the handover, UNTAET reported that "[t]he airports in Dili and Baucau have suffered damages owing to inadequate maintenance, destruction, theft of equipment, and heavy use over recent months".[31] The Tibar Conference, held in May 2000 to analyse East Timor's prospects,[32] identified Dili Airport as an immediate priority, and Baucau Airport as a future priority, due to its long−term potential for tourism and freight transport.[31]

In 2006, the government of Portugal chartered a Lockheed L-1011 TriStar operated by EuroAtlantic Airways to fly Republican Guards into Baucau Airport at the request of the government of East Timor, to assist in responding to that year's security crisis.[33] The operator temporarily based a crew in Singapore, and flew a total of four flights into Baucau, using an improvised communication system: a combination of the control tower at Dili Airport and two helicopters, an Australian Black Hawk and a United Nations Mi-8.[34] [35] [36] In October 2008, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment deployed to East Timor, as Timor Leste Battle Group 5 on Operation Astute, the international response to the 2006 security crisis. A key task of the deployment was to protect Baucau Airport, and the battalion set up a forward operating base there. In June 2009, the battalion returned to Australia after handing over to 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.[37] [38] [39]

Since the last UN peacekeeping mission ended in 2012, the airport has been mostly unused.[11] [40] As of 2017, the runway pavement was not being properly maintained, and could not support jet flights.[41]

In 2018, following discussions at a Bilateral Defense Dialogue, the government of East Timor asked the government of United States to assist with the rehabilitation of the airport.[42] [43] The request was approved at a meeting of the United States Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii,[43] but certain critics of the proposed project suggested that it was an attempt by the United States to set up a military base in Baucau.[44]

In March 2021, when the newly appointed United States Ambassador to East Timor, C. Kevin Blackstone, presented his credentials to the Prime Minister of East Timor, Taur Matan Ruak, he said that he intended quickly to complete the procedures necessary for the rehabilitation to go ahead.[43] On 28 June 2021, he and José Maria dos Reis, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Planning and Territory of East Timor, signed two Memoranda of Understanding for bilateral cooperation. One was for the rehabilitation of the airport, and the other was for potential U.S. support for the development of East Timor's civil aviation sector.[45] According to the official US Government announcement of the signing:

On 12 July 2021, at a ceremony at the airport, the Prime Minister and the Ambassador laid the foundation stone for the rehabilitation project.[46] In his speech at the ceremony, the Prime Minister observed that the discussions about the project had begun in 2008, when he was still a General in the Timor Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL). He explained that the rehabilitated airport would be used by the F-FDTL Air Component, and, in the future, as a multi-purpose airport, for large aircraft that cannot land at Dili Airport. He also denied that the United States was going to build a military base there; he said that East Timor did not need Baucau to be a military base, and that the United States, as the world's leading military power, did not need Baucau as a military base.[47]

Soon afterwards, the rehabilitation project was the subject of a lengthy analysis by Fundasaun Mahein, an East Timorese think tank specialising in security sector monitoring, research and advocacy. Fundasaun Mahein felt that the rehabilitation agreement raised difficult and complex questions about the foreign policy of East Timor:

Additionally, Fundasaun Mahein noted that many saw the Baucau region as having significant potential for agriculture, tourism and industrial development. The airport was therefore considered highly strategic not only for both civilian and military use, but also for enabling the socio-economic development of the Baucau region.[11]

The rehabilitation project was scheduled to begin in October 2021,[47] but did not start until January 2022.[24] [48] The delayed perimeter fence repair and warehouse construction tasks were completed in April 2022, and the Cessna 206 was scheduled to arrive later in the year.[48] [49]

Facilities

Immediately before the Indonesian invasion in 1975, the airport had a long concrete runway with modern facilities and a relatively modern control tower. However, it was not fitted with major communications equipment or lighting, and ATC personnel were not stationed on site.[20]

If the airport's facilities were rehabilitated, the airport could service any passenger aircraft.[40]

Operations

, the airport was mostly unused.[11] [40] The runway pavement was not being properly maintained, and could not support jet flights.[41] Aero Dili was operating flights from and to Dili using a Cessna 207 piston-engined aircraft.[50] Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) Timor-Leste occasionally uses other piston-engined aircraft to operate medevac flights to and from the airport, including for victims of crocodile attacks, which usually take place at the eastern end of the country.[51]

Accidents and incidents

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.timor-leste.gov.tl/CAA/AIP_TL/index.htm Aeronautical Information Publication (AIP)
  2. Web site: usurped . Airport information for WPEC . https://web.archive.org/web/20190305143444/http://worldaerodata.com/wad.cgi?airport=WPEC . 2019-03-05 . World Aero Data. Data current as of October 2006. Source: DAFIF.
  3. Web site: 2.2.2 Timor-Leste Baucau National Airport - Logistics Capacity Assessment - Digital Logistics Capacity Assessments . dlca.logcluster.org . . 22 February 2022 . 22 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220222062756/https://dlca.logcluster.org/display/public/DLCA/2.2.2+Timor-Leste+Baucau+National+Airport . live .
  4. Book: Smith . Michael G. . with Dee . Moreen . Peacekeeping in East Timor: The Path to Independence . International Peace Academy occasional paper series . 2003 . Lynne Rienner Publishers . Boulder, CO, USA . 1588261425 . 35.
  5. Book: Fowler . Andrew H. . Stability Operations in East Timor 1999-2000: A Case Study . 2016 . . Carlisle Barracks, PA, USA . 9780998147307 . 15 February 2022 . 15 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215123016/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/AD1017530.pdf . live .
  6. News: Henriques-Gomes . Luke . 'It was life or death': the plane-hijacking refugees Australia embraced . 17 January 2021 . . 16 January 2021 . 19 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210119175722/https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/jan/16/it-was-life-or-death-the-plane-hijacking-refugees-australia-embraced?fbclid=IwAR2j_IjLAhQmwUn9UDBPTHPzXOHPlYis-417SoGaQFMFDTRWUu1XSYjqX4k . live .
  7. Book: Município Baucau: Esboços Mapa Suco no Aldeia Timor-Leste . 2019 . Ministério das Finanças / Direcção Geral de Estatística / Direcção Nacional Cartografia Estatísticas . Dili . 25 . dead . 23 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20201119053757/https://www.statistics.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Baucau_Aldeia_AtlasCont-x-7.pdf . 19 November 2020 . tet.
  8. Web site: Eaton . Charles Stuart . Group Captain Eaton – Australia's Consul in Timor . British Historical Society of Portugal . 14 February 2022 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214075203/https://www.bhsportugal.org/uploads/fotos_artigos/files/EatonVignettes.pdf . live . (See also Book: Eaton . Charles Stuart . [{{GBurl|RRB-zgEACAAJ}} The Cross in the Sky. ]. 2021 . Echo Books . Melbourne . 9780648854623 .)
  9. Book: Farram . Steven . Smith . Sarah . etal . Timor-Leste: Iha contextu lokal, rejional no global / O local, regional e global / The local, the regional and the global / Lokal, regional dan global . I . 2016 . Swinburne Press . Hawthorn, Vic . 9780987593085 . 124 . Portugal and the Netherlands in Timor, 1945-1949 . https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h7LlO9ck9Sk-5HGMJAPpoK3aO1OLHvMk/view . 14 February 2022 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214075200/https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wlBU48T8h5qQkMAGT8NK8mxBQPSTltlT/view . live .
  10. News: Walters . Patrick . Baucau sad symbol of Jakarta failings . 13 February 2022 . . 22 March 1997 . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213065001/https://www.asia-pacific-solidarity.net/news/1997-03-22/baucau-sad-symbol-of-jakarta-failings.html . live .
  11. Web site: Mahein Guardian . Baucau Airport agreement: security, strategic and socio-economic implications . Fundasaun Mahein . 14 February 2022 . 23 July 2021 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214100310/https://www.fundasaunmahein.org/2021/07/23/baucau-airport-agreement-security-strategic-and-socio-economic-implications/ . live .
  12. Book: Nicol . Bill . [{{GBurl|8uxwaCR_71cC}} Timor: A Nation Reborn ]. 2002 . Equinox Publishing . Jakarta; Singapore . 979958986X.
  13. Web site: ParlInfo - Air Navigation Act - Report by Minister for Civil Aviation - Year - 1963-64 (4th) . . 13 February 2022 . 1 October 1964 . 19 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220319052246/https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22publications%2Ftabledpapers%2FHPP052016001692%22;src1=sm1 . live .
  14. World airline survey . Flight International . 13 April 1967 . 91 . 3031 . 549, at 595 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170628013302/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1967/1967%20-%200609.html . 28 June 2017 . 13 February 2022.
  15. World airline survey . Flight International . 10 April 1969 . 95 . 3135 . 549, at 596 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20170628092329/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1969/1969%20-%201849.html . 28 June 2017 . 13 February 2022.
  16. Web site: Simmons . Graham . Back to Baucau: Culture Schlock In East Timor . ThingsAsian . 14 February 2022 . 11 September 2003 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214145202/http://thingsasian.com/story/back-baucau-culture-schlock-east-timor . live .
  17. Stroud . Michael . World airline directory . Flight International . 21 March 1974 . 105 . 3393 . 1, at 58 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140407223227/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1974/1974%20-%200486.html . 7 April 2014 . 13 February 2022.
  18. Stroud . Michael . World airline directory . . 20 March 1975 . 108 . 3445 . 459, at 507 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20181102014622/https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1975/1975%20-%200569.html . 2 November 2018 . 1 November 2018.
  19. Book: Nixon . Rod . [{{GBurl|GvOK-TDr2_YC}} Justice and Governance in East Timor: Indigenous Approaches and the 'New Subsistence State' ]. Routledge Contemporary Southeast Asia Series . 2012 . Routledge . Abingdon, Oxon, UK . 9780415665735 .
  20. . Sqn Ldr. (Ret’d.) Gordon . Crouch . Cpl Bill . East Timor-September 1975 Hijack of Caribou A4-140 . Radschool Association Magazine . June 2017 . 58 . 14 . 14 February 2022 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214123211/https://www.radschool.org.au/magazines/Vol58/Page14.htm . live .
  21. Book: Subroto . Hendro . [{{GBurl|YIycAAAACAAJ}} Operasi udara di Timor Timur ]. Air operations in East Timor . 2005 . Pustaka Sinar Harapan . Jakarta . 9794168378 . id.
  22. Book: Dunn, James . James Dunn (diplomat) . 1996 . [{{GBurl|5_qnAAAACAAJ}} Timor: A People Betrayed ]. 0733305377 . 257–260.
  23. Book: [{{GBurl|s9PsAAAAMAAJ |page=131}} Duapuluh Tahun Timor Timur Membangun=Twenty Years of Development in East Timor ]. February 1996 . Korps Pegawai Republik Indonesia Propinsi Timor Timur=Indonesian Civil Servants Corps East Timor Province . Dili . 68543593 . id,en.
  24. Web site: Felton . Benjamin . US begins work in Timor to rehabilitate airfield & reinvigorate F-FDTLs air capabilities. . Overt Defense . 12 February 2022 . 24 January 2022 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212135709/https://www.overtdefense.com/2022/01/24/us-begins-work-in-timor-to-rehabilitate-airfield-reinvigorate-local-air-capabilities/ . live .
  25. La Franchi . Peter . UN builds up East Timor air assets . . 22 September 1999 . 12 February 2022 . 19 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220319052239/https://www.flightglobal.com/un-builds-up-east-timor-air-assets/28564.article . live .
  26. News: Timor chooses independence . BBC News . 4 September 1999 . 12 February 2022 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212135703/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/438145.stm . live .
  27. Book: Horner, David . SAS: Phantoms of War. A History of the Australian Special Air Service . Second . 2002 . Allen & Unwin . Sydney, New South Wales . 1-86508-647-9 . 483–489.
  28. Web site: Australians and Peacekeeping . War History . Australian War Memorial . 11 January 2015 . 21 November 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121230518/http://www.awm.gov.au/atwar/peacekeeping.asp . live .
  29. Book: Horner, David. David Horner . Making the Australian Defence Force . The Australian Centenary History of Defence . IV . Oxford University Press . Melbourne . 2001 . 0-19-554117-0. 46695034.
  30. Web site: As históricas ligações aéreas com Timor-Leste e o voo do "Dilly" . The historic air connections with Timor-Leste and the “Dilly” flight . Observatório da Língua Portuguesa . . 26 June 2022 . pt . 20 November 2015.
  31. Web site: Reconstructing suitable sustainable infrastructures (Ref.: INFR02-22/12/2000eng) . East Timor Observatory . Commission for the Rights of the Maubere People (CDPM) / Peace is Possible in East Timor . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20061009220051fw_/http://homepage.esoterica.pt/~cdpm/infr02eng.htm . 9 October 2006 . December 2000 . dead.
  32. Book: Feijó . Rui Graça . Bünte . Marco . Dressel . Björn . [{{GBurl|AjFEDwAAQBAJ}} Politics and Constitutions in Southeast Asia ]. Routledge Law in Asia series . 2015 . Routledge . London . 9780815356042 . 4. Constitutionalism Old and New in the "UN Kingdom of Timor Leste".
  33. News: Avião que vai transportar militares da GNR vai aterrar em Baucau . Plane that will transport GNR soldiers will land in Baucau . 13 February 2022 . . . 2 June 2006 . pt . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213141837/https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/pais/aviao-que-vai-transportar-militares-da-gnr-vai-aterrar-em-baucau_n31734 . live .
  34. Web site: euroAtlantic, the first Portuguese commercial company lands at Díli Airport transporting GNR (Portuguese militarised police force) military staff to Timor . . 15 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120320171502/http://www.euroatlantic.pt/downloads/en_29_01_2008.pdf . 20 March 2012 . 29 January 2008 . dead.
  35. News: Portugueses retidos em Timor-Leste voam este sábado para Lisboa . Portuguese stranded in Timor-Leste fly this Saturday to Lisbon . 15 February 2022 . . . 3 April 2020 . pt . 15 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215064713/https://www.tsf.pt/mundo/portugueses-retidos-em-timor-leste-voam-este-sabado-para-lisboa-12024875.html . live .
  36. News: Ferreira . Leonídio Paulo . "Quando em Timor viram um avião português foi um alívio, um aconchego" . When they saw a Portuguese plane in Timor, it was a relief, a comfort . 15 February 2022 . . 8 July 2020 . pt . 15 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215080419/https://www.dn.pt/pais/quando-em-timor-viram-um-aviao-portugues-foi-um-alivio-um-aconchego-12039115.html . live .
  37. CO 5RAR Report . Tiger Tales . April 2009 . 21 . 15 February 2022 . 7 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220307085600/https://5rar.asn.au/tt-archives/21_TT_Apr09.pdf . live .
  38. Web site: FOB Baucau . Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability . 15 February 2022 . 24 August 2009 . 15 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220215080420/https://nautilus.org/publications/books/australian-forces-abroad/australian-bases-abroad/fob-baucau/ . live .
  39. Proud Tigers in Timor Leste . Tiger Tales . August 2009 . 22 . 1 . 15 February 2022 . 7 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220307085613/https://5rar.asn.au/tt-archives/22%20TT%27s%20Mag%20-%20Aug%202009.pdf . live .
  40. Web site: Rose . Michael . A tale of four airports: aviation in Timor-Leste . Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre . 17 February 2022 . 17 July 2019 . 23 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220123215436/https://devpolicy.org/a-tale-of-four-airports-aviation-in-timor-leste-20190718/ . live .
  41. Sakai . Tatsuo . 2017 . Taking Flight: Analysis of Timor-Leste Civil Aviation and Recommendations . . San Francisco . 13–14 . 13 February 2022 . 29 October 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211029082409/https://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Timor-Leste-Civil-Aviation-Report.pdf . live .
  42. Web site: Ambassador Kathleen M. Fitzpatrick Remarks at the 9th Bilateral Defense Dialogue . U.S. Embassy in Timor Leste . 12 February 2022 . 19 November 2018 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212100350/https://tl.usembassy.gov/ambassador-kathleen-m-fitzpatrick-remarks-at-the-9th-bilateral-defense-dialogue/ . live .
  43. Web site: Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak welcomes in audience the new U.S. Ambassador to Timor-Leste, C. Kevin Blackstone . Government of Timor-Leste . 12 February 2022 . 25 March 2021 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212100350/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=27442&lang=en&lang=en . live .
  44. News: East Timor: US confident of agreement with government on Baucau airport . 12 February 2022 . Macau Business . . 11 May 2021 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212135710/https://www.macaubusiness.com/east-timor-us-confident-of-agreement-with-government-on-baucau-airport/ . live .
  45. Web site: Timor-Leste and United States sign agreements to rehabilitate Baucau airfield and to develop national civil aviation sector . timor-leste.gov.tl . 12 February 2022 . 29 June 2021 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212100350/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=28649&lang=en&lang=en . live .
  46. Web site: Prime Minister and American Ambassador lay the foundation stone for rehabilitation of Baucau Aerodrome . Government of Timor-Leste . 12 February 2022 . en . 13 July 2021 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212100348/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=28817&lang=en&lang=en . live .
  47. Web site: media PMO . Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak is proud of the rehabilitation of the Baucau airport . Prime Minister of East Timor . 12 February 2022 . 13 July 2021 . 15 December 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211215061048/https://www.gpm.gov.tl/en/primeiru-ministru-taur-matan-ruak-orgullu-ho-rehabilitasaun-aeroportu-baukau/#.Ygd7nd9BxPY . live .
  48. Web site: Press Release: U.S. and Timorese Military Engineers Start Joint Rehabilitation of Baucau Airfield . U.S. Embassy in Timor Leste . 12 February 2022 . 12 January 2022 . 12 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220212135704/https://tl.usembassy.gov/press-release-u-s-and-timorese-military-engineers-start-joint-rehabilitation-of-baucau-airfield/ . live .
  49. News: Sousa . Camilio de . MoD, MoTC, and U.S celebrate completion of new warehouse of Baucau Airfield . 15 April 2022 . . 9 April 2022.
  50. News: Oki . Raimundos . Timor-Leste commercial aircraft Aero Dili successfully made its first international technical landing at El Tari Kupang . 7 January 2023 . The Oekusi Post . 12 August 2022 . en-gb.
  51. Web site: Crocodile Bite Victim Needs a Medevac . MAF Australia . Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) . 14 February 2022 . 30 January 2020 . 14 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220214125557/https://maf.org.au/latest-news/crocodile-bite-victim-needs-a-medevac/ . live .
  52. Web site: Thorak History: Dr Klaus Eberhard Thorak . . 16 February 2022 . en . 16 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220216100119/https://litchfield.nt.gov.au/services-projects/thorak-regional-cemetery/thorak-history . live .
  53. Book: O'Brien . Graham . Always There: A History of Air Force Combat Support . 2009 . Air Power Development Centre . Canberra . 9781920800451 . 141 . 13 February 2022 . 2 March 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220302064658/https://radschool.org.au/Books/Always-There-A-History-of-Combat-Support-Group.pdf . live .
  54. News: Capone . Alesha . Remembering those who serve . 13 February 2022 . Wyndham Star Weekly . 11 November 2019 . 13 February 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220213100552/https://wyndham.starweekly.com.au/news/remembering-those-who-serve/ . live .

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