Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport says it has adopted a long-term vision and strategy to turn the country into a major aviation hub for ASEAN. Transport Minister U Nyan Htun Aung told local media that the country could be a major logistics hub in ASEAN over the next 10 years. “Our goal is to develop a safe, secure,
Myanmar's Ministry of Transport says it has adopted a long-term vision and strategy to turn the country into a major aviation hub for ASEAN.
Transport Minister U Nyan Htun Aung told local media that the country could be a major logistics hub in ASEAN over the next 10 years.
“Our goal is to develop a safe, secure, sustainable and environmentally friendly aviation industry in the country.”
Myanmar's main asset is its geographical location that is within the range of nonstop flights from all continents, except the Americas. Out of Europe the flight time to Yangon is around one-hour shorter than to Bangkok.
The plan is to establish more air links direct to India, China and Japan and also direct to Europe, the US and Australia.
Currently the country relies on Bangkok as the gateway to international airline services to Japan, Europe and Australia. That is likely to change soon as attractive incentives are put in place to attract European airlines to fly direct to Yangon.
Myanmar will also upgrade its airport infrastructure and add more hotel rooms to meet demand.
According to DCA statistics, passenger traffic was 6.49 million in 2013, a 16.5% increase over 2012.
The number of international airlines flying to Myanmar increased from 12 airlines in 2009 to 28 airlines in 2013. Of those, 8 are low-cost carriers. In the domestic market, Myanmar has 7 airlines operating scheduled services with a few aircraft.