Myanmar Airlines' India flights to start soon

27 January, 2008:

With India growing to be a major leisure and business travel destination, more airline companies are lining up services to the country. The latest in line is the Myanmar Airways International (MAI), which is expected to extend its flight services to India later in 2008. MAI is a joint venture between the state-run Myanmar Airways (MA) and Region Air of Singapore.

The move is also a part of the company’s plans to fly more international destinations. the planned introduction of the India air route follows the resumption of Myanmar Airways International's flight services to Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur on January 15, 2008. Myanmar Airlines' services were suspended for about three months for technical reasons.

When the India services are added, Myanmar Airways International will have four international flight destinations, including Singapore. Myanmar Airways International is just one of the five airline companies operating out of Myanmar. Apart from MAI, another company MA is state run, while three other airlines, namely Air Mandalay, Yangon Airways, and Air Bagan, are private owned. These three private airlines, in addition to their domestic flights, have also extended their services to Chiangmai, Phuket, and Bangkok in Thailand, to Incheon in South Korea and to Singapore.

The country also saw Air Bagan's Singapore flight being suspended on November 4, 2007 due to sanctions by the US, however it is all set to seek resumption of the flight by the peak tourist season of September 2008.

As many as 15 foreign airlines operate services to Yangon. They include Thai Airways International, Indian, Qatar Airways, Silk Air, Air China, China Southern Airlines, China Eastern Airlines, Hong Kong Express Airways, Mandarin Airlines, Malaysian Airlines, Bangkok Airways, Jetstar Asia, Phuket Airline, and Thai Air Asia.