Qantas has added Dili (DIL) in East Timor to its route map with the first of the airline’s regular passenger flights taking off from Darwin (DRW).

Three return flights to the country—also known as Timor-Leste—will operate each week using Embraer E190 aircraft, ramping up to five weekly return flights from July. The E190 aircraft operate on Qantas’ network as part of an agreement with Alliance Airlines.

Darwin-Dili is Qantas’ first international E190 route and its first new international route from Darwin since 2008—apart from the temporarily rerouted London Heathrow (LHR) service which switched from Perth (PER) to DRW because of travel restrictions.

“After two years of closed borders, this new route is a key part of Qantas’ focus on rebuilding connectivity in the region for businesses, families and freight,” QantasLink COO Petrea Bradford said.

“Travelers from Timor-Leste will also be able to seamlessly transfer through Darwin to the Qantas Group’s extensive domestic and international network.”

During the pandemic, Qantas temporarily operated weekly flights between Darwin and Dili in partnership with the Australian government to maintain critical passenger and freight links while international borders were closed.

The new route follows the recently announced E190 base in Darwin and comes as Qantas launches two new domestic services from the airport to Cairns (CNS) and Townsville (TSV).