(THAI BUSINESS ASSOCIATION OF MYANMAR)

www.tbam1997.com

Author: Andrew Johnson Senior Editor MBT : A military aircraft was involved in an incident at Yangon International Airport on September 5, and runway operations were closed at 11:20 am, according to a travel advisory from Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited (YACL).

The airport remained closed till 06:00 am September 6, 2019, cancelling many flights and stranding people in other countries. YACL said this was due to ongoing clearance works on the runway, as well as a thorough inspection by maintenance crews and a good cleaning to ensure it is safe and ready for operations.

This isn’t the first incident to happen at Yangon International Airport (YIA) this year.

Due to technical issues with Golden Myanmar Airlines Flight No. Y5 506, Yangon International Airport’s runway was temporarily closed for about two hours on August 2, 2019.

A Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft skidded and overran the runway at on May 8, 2019, during heavy rain. The Bombardier Dash-8 Q400 aircraft skidded during its second attempt at landing amidst bad weather and poor visibility conditions. 15 passengers and 5 crew members were taken to various hospitals in Yangon for minor injuries.

Then on May 13, 2019, a Myanmar National Airlines plane successfully landed without its front wheels.

These four incidents highlight the need to get the long-awaited Hanthawaddy International Airport in Bago started and operational. Bago is only 2 hours from Yangon International Airport. Aircraft could easily be diverted in the event of another incident at YIA, and save passengers the headache of a much longer bus ride to their destination, or others from being stuck in an airport of another country.

You could also make the argument that having only one airport serving Myanmar’s biggest city is a serious safety risk. In the event of something catastrophic happening in the city or at YIA, having a second airport to take over could mean the continued flow of people and emergency supplies to and from the city.

Over the past five years, air passenger growth at YIA had increased at an average of 8.6 percent per year, and this trend is expected to continue. The easing of visa requirements for tourists, the country's new tourism campaign, and the ancient city of Bagan being named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site are all factors expected to increase Myanmar's tourism.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications estimates that the airport’s full passenger capacity will be exceeded in the next four to five years, again highlighting the need for the Hanthawaddy International Airport (HIA).

HIA is expected to handle 30 million passengers a year when it is fully operational, and would require infrastructure linking the new airport with Yangon by highway and an express rail system.

In July 2019, Myanmar and Japan resumed negotiations on the stalled project, but hopes are high that an agreement can be reached early next year.