Airlines add capacity to Myanmar

MANDALAY, 20 February 2013: Myanmar Airways International will launch daily flights between Mandalay and Bangkok 31 March and plans to add further services out of Mandalay to other regional destinations.

MAI marketing executive, Daw Aye Mra Tha, said the airline will start its Mandalay-Bangkok daily flights, 31 March, with a proposed roundtrip fare of US$250 that still needs approval.


“The aim is to respond to market demand for flights to and from Mandalay which is “really high”,” the airline executive said.

The flight will depart Bangkok at 0630 and arrive at Mandalay International Airport at 0755. The return flight will depart Mandalay at 0835 and arrive in Bangkok at 1100. The airline will use a 180-seat Airbus A320 on the route.

MAI already flies from Mandalay to Gaya, in northeast India, the gateway for Buddhist pilgrimages to Bodhgaya, where the Lord Buddha gained enlightenment.

The executive said: “In addition to the Mandalay-Bangkok route we also have plans to fly to Singapore from Mandalay, but only after launching the Bangkok route.”

MAI also offers flights from Yangon to Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Gaya, Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Guangzhou. It also has services linking Bangkok and Singapore.

The strong growth in the aviation sector last year should continue throughout 2013. International and domestic airlines have announced plans to expand operations to cope with mainly a surge in business travel. Linking Mandalay to regional capitals should draw more investors who are interested in opening factories near the country’s second largest city.

Up until recently, Mandalay’s only regional air link was to southern China. In October 2012, Thai AirAsia introduced four weekly services to Mandalay from Bangkok and on 11 January the service was upgraded to daily.

Bangkok Airways has also announced plans to operate four weekly flights from 26 September using an Airbus A319. The flight will depart Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 1200 and return from Mandalay at 1410. Flight time is one hour and 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, Thai Airways says it is considering serving the Mandalay route using its subsidiary Thai Smile. Myanmar’s first low-cost carrier, Golden Myanmar Airlines, says it plans to offer flights to Bangkok, Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong shortly.

source: TTR Weekly
http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/02/airlines-add-capacity-to-myanmar/