A LARGE increase in passenger numbers at Yangon International Airport has prompted the government to consider reviving the mothballed Hantharwaddy airport project near Bago town, which has been on hold for many years.
In the first four months of the year, 500,000 international passengers arrived at Yangon airport, 21 per cent more than during the same period last year. Passenger numbers at the domestic terminal jumped 23 per cent year-on-year to about 360,000.
Yangon airport, which can handle 2.7 million passengers a year, is already being expanded to handle 3.7 million by end 2012 or early 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 19), and has limited space for further expansion.
Transport ministry Nyan Tun Aung said: “We expect about 30-35 per cent increase in the number of passengers passing through Yangon airport this year, and that the airport will reach its capacity within four years.”
Nyan said a new international airport capable of handling 3.5 million passengers was also under construction in Nay Pyi Taw, due for completion by end-2011. “But it is up to the airlines (to operate flights there)… we won’t force them to do so,” he said.
Myanmar’s other international airport is in Mandalay. It has a 14,000ft (4,267m) runway and can handle up to three million passengers a year, but at the moment only attracts regular flights from Kunming, China.
