THE Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has inked another air service agreement, paving the way for direct air links between Myanmar and Turkey.
Myanmar and Turkey signed the first-ever bilateral air service agreements last week, allowing airlines of both countries to start services and strike up codeshares for flights between Yangon and Istanbul. This paves the way for Turkish Airlines to commence Yangon flights.
Earlier this year, the DCA also sealed the deal with the Philippines, whose local airlines such as Cebu Pacific Air, Tigerair and Philippines AirAsia have applied to the Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board for 1,260 seats weekly each on the Yangon-Manila route.
Win Swe Tun, deputy director general, DCA, added that Myanmar has also redrafted air service agreements with France and New Zealand dating back to 1972. “But operating direct air links between two countries is another step that is likely to take some time, because airlines need to do market surveys and see demand before launching flights.”
The number of international airlines operating to Myanmar has increased from 12 in 2009 to 28 in 2013.
