Transportes Aéreos de Timor

Transportes Aéreos de Timor or TAT was an airline of the colony of Portuguese Timor, headquartered in Dili. It operated between 1939 and 1975.

Transportes Aéreos de Timor
TAT's de Havilland Dove CR-TAG "Manatuto" at Bankstown Airport, Sydney, early 1970s
Founded1939
Ceased operations1975
Operating bases
Destinations
HeadquartersDili, Portuguese Timor

History

TAT was founded as the colony's national airline in July 1939, several years before TAP Air Portugal, the national airline of the motherland.[1] It was headquartered in Dili,[1] and its operating bases were at Dili Airport and Baucau Airport.[2]

TAT served destinations within the colony and the neighbouring countries of Australia and Indonesia.[3]

Destinations
The TAT hangar at Dili Airport during the colonial period

In 1967, TAT operated flights between Baucau and Oecusse, and between Baucau and Darwin, Australia, with two de Havilland Doves.[4]

As of 1969, TAT was flying to six destinations in Portuguese Timor, and once a week a chartered Fokker F27 Friendship of Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) operated the Baucau to Darwin route.[2]

In 1974 and 1975, TAT was operating scheduled domestic services from Dili to Atauro, Baucau, Maliana, Oecusse and Suai. The Baucau to Darwin services operated by TAA for TAT had become thrice-weekly, and TAT was also serving Kupang in West Timor, Indonesia, from Dili once a week, using a Douglas DC-3 chartered from Merpati Nusantara Airlines.[3][5]

After Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin at the end of 1974, the flights between Baucau and Darwin were suspended.[6]

Fleet

As of 1967, TAT had two de Havilland Doves in its fleet.[4] By 1969, three Austers had been added,[2] but they had left the fleet by 1971.[7]

At the time the airline was shut down following the Indonesian invasion of East Timor at the end of 1975, the fleet consisted of the two Doves and a Britten-Norman BN-2 Islander.[1]

Incidents and accidents

On January 26, 1960, a TAT de Havilland Heron, registration CR-TAI, crashed north west of Bathurst Island in the Timor Sea, approximately one hour after taking off from Darwin on a flight to Baucau. Two crew members and seven passengers were killed. It is believed that the pilot had difficulty with poor visibility, for which he had not been trained.[8]

Aircraft on display

TAT de Havilland Dove CR-TAG "Manatuto", named after the East Timorese town of Manatuto, escaped the Indonesian invasion of East Timor, and is now on display at the Darwin Aviation Museum.[9]

References
  1. Stroud, Michael (10 April 1976). "World airline directory". Flight International. 109 (3500): 895, at 963. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  2. "World airline survey". Flight International. 95 (3135): 549, at 596. 10 April 1969. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  3. Stroud, Michael (21 March 1974). "World airline directory". Flight International. 105 (3393): 1, at 58. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  4. "World airline survey". Flight International. 91 (3031): 549, at 595. 13 April 1967. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  5. Stroud, Michael (20 March 1975). "World airline directory". Flight International. 108 (3445): 459, at 507. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  6. Nicol, Bill (2002). Timor: A Nation Reborn. Jakarta; Singapore: Equinox Publishing. p. 51. ISBN 979958986X.
  7. Stroud, Michael (6 May 1971). "World airlines". Flight International. 99 (3243): 607, at 649. Retrieved 1 November 2018.
  8. Accident description for CR-TAI at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 1 November 2018.
  9. "de Havilland Dove CR-TAG". Darwin Aviation Museum website. Retrieved 1 November 2018.

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