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.

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.

Schuller also noted that local airline Transportes Aéreos de Timor (TAT) was expected soon to start flying Douglas DC-3 or Lockheed Hudson aircraft.

[13] 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.

[14]: 39 As of 1964, TAT was using a chartered Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) Fokker F27 Friendship to operate the Baucau to Darwin flights, every week.

[28] 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.

[29] 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.

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 Humberto da Cruz [pt] and mechanic António Lobato [pt] 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.

[27] 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".

[36] 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.

[48] According to the official US Government announcement of the signing: "The project ... allocates an initial $10.6 million intended to enhance Timor-Leste’s capacity in the areas of security, humanitarian assistance, and disaster response operations to contribute to the development of a resilient and diversified economy.

This includes support for the development of the F-FDTL’s Air Component and small-scale construction to improve security and storage capabilities at Baucau Airfield.

[50] 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).

[51] 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: On one hand, we agree with the concern of civil society groups that we should be very careful about our engagement with big countries in relation to security cooperation.

However, we also believe that we need to continue with our existing bilateral cooperation programs which have improved our security sector's capacity, while adopting a pragmatic and nuanced foreign policy which avoids "choosing sides" and maintains friendly relations with all countries which are interested to partner with us.

[27][52] 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.

[54] 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.