For some time the East Nusa Tenggara Tourism Office has been calling for Garuda Indonesia to open up a triangular route between Kupang, Dili and Darwin. This would provide competition to Airnorth on the Darwin-Dili service and also revive the Darwin - Kupang service, previously served by Merpati.
Now it has been revealed that Perth based workers destined for East Timor are fling via Denpasar rather than Darwin to achieve cost savings.
Gary Shipway
NT News | 11 July 2017
A DARWIN businessman says it is cheaper to fly Perth-based workers to Dili via Bali than it is to fly the preferred, more direct route through Darwin.
WST director Peter Hopton said his engineering and logistics company saved more than 30 per cent on the cost of flights by travelling Air Asia out of Perth into Denpasar.
He said a Garuda service into Darwin from Dili would be a game changer.
Mr Hopton said the time was right for the Chief Minister Michael Gunner to try to meet with Garuda and push the case for a proposed Kupang, Dili, Darwin route.
Last week, the NT News reported pressure was being put on Garuda to add Darwin as a destination for flights from East Timor. Garuda's low cost carrier, Citilink, currently operates flights from Denpasar to Kupang and Dili, but the East Timor Tourism Office wants a flight that travels on to Darwin. Mr Paton said Mr Gunner should support the push.
"Opportunities in business, trade and tourism are being missed," Mr Hopton said.
"If Garuda had a service, it would bring competition and opportunities in ... business if there was a thoroughfare from other Australian capital cities into Darwin, Dili and then onto Denpasar." On the topic of cheaper flights, Mr Gunner told Mix 104.9 yesterday his Government was "in constant conversation all the time with the airlines about their routes, what they are doing, and how we can get that price down".
"We have to make Darwin and Alice destinations in their own rights, and not just portals out to other things," he said