Air Bagan's Singapore services suspended

28 October, 2007:

Sanctions targeted at the Burmese business tycoon Tayza-owned Air Bagan have forced the airline to temporarily put on hold its flights to Singapore from November 2007 onwards. Air Bagan, a private company owned by Tayza, son-in-law of Burmese junta supremo Snr Gen than Shwe, is the first to be affected by sanctions imposed against the junta for its brutal crackdown on peaceful protestors in September 2007.

The airline has said that its last flight to Singapore will be on November 4, 2007.

Adding that the company does not know whether it can really resume flights at a later date, Air Bagan has said the suspension has badly affected it as it has to refund passengers, who have booked tickets.

However, the company has said that it will continue with domestic flights even though the Singapore flights are impacted by sanctions.

According to reports, Tayza had held a company meeting in Mandalay and admitted facing severe financial crisis. Tayza was quoted as saying that he
was planning to sell two Air Bus aircrafts in order to stay afloat.

The suspension of its Singapore services is being seen as the end of the road for the Burmese airline.