LOW-cost carrier Golden Myanmar Airlines will launch its first international route on April 5, connecting Singapore to Yangon and Mandalay with daily flights. It is also eyeing Bangkok, New Delhi and Hong Kong.
“Currently we have only one Airbus A320 aircraft, but we will add one more aircraft very soon before launching the Singapore route. We will also fly to Bangkok at the end of April. As originally planned, we will add more aircraft very soon and will fly to New Delhi and Hong Kong in the near future,” revealed U Aung Gyi, managing director, Golden Myanmar Airlines.
Golden Myanmar started operations in January with flights between Yangon and Mandalay (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 4, 2013), and the new Singapore flights will be Mandalay’s first connection with the city-state.
While Yangon accounted for nearly all of the country’s international passengers in 2012, the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation reported growing interest in Mandalay, Myanmar’s last royal capital, and predicted the trend would continue.
It is a dramatic turnaround for a city that had only one international route, a China Eastern Airlines service to Kunming in China, prior to Thai AirAsia launching Bangkok-Mandalay flights in October 2012 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 15, 2012).
TTG Asia e-Daily understands that Golden Myanmar Airlines is launching the route with promotion fares of US$45 one-way for April 5-8. Regular fares are priced US$100 one-way, or about half of what other carriers on the route charge, according to Golden Myanmar.
