AirAsia to Introduce Mandalay-Bangkok Flights

27th Aug 2012

Beginning October 4, Thai AirAsia will fly between Bangkok and Mandalay, its second destination in Myanmar, after Yangon. Thai AirAsia CEO said last week that the airline will also increase its current service to Yangon to three times per day.

The Bangkok-Mandalay service will operate four times weekly - Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, the official said.

Mr. Bijleveld believed that Mandalay will offer a unique experience to travelers as it is a city of cultural attractions steeped in Buddhist history. He was confident that the new direct service will attract Thai travelers to go to Myanmar especially Mandalay, which is the last royal capital of Burma and, now, its second largest city.

He was also hoping that the country of Myanmar will compliment the airline's new service to Mandalay by putting up transport service and restaurants to serve passengers using the airport. Furthermore, he revealed that the airline is interested to expand its services to more cities in Myanmar like Bagan and Nay Pyi Taw if their respective airports will be improved.

A spokesperson of the airline based in Yangon said that the major problem is Mandalay Airport is the absence of adequate transport links to its downtown area. Currently, taxi service is the only available public transport that connects the airport to the downtown. Not only is the travel between the airport and downtown long but also very expensive.

Tourism officials from both countries were very happy and welcomed the new air service between the the two cities.

According to a spokesperson for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the new air link is seen to benefit not only tourists from Thailand but also from other countries who visit Thailand and may be interested to go to Myanmar for an extended vacation. He also suggested that the government may offer tourists from 10-member ASEAN countries special privilege by providing visa-on-arrival service at the soonest possible time.

This way, tourism in the ASEAN region will grow at an exponential rate allowing all citizens from 10-member countries to seamlessly cross borders.

The two countries have been working together to promote tourism based on the ASEAN framework. The airline official said that they sent out its marketing manager to Myanmar to analyze tourism destinations in the country and found out some issues that need to be addressed immediately by the tourism official of Myanmar if it wants to attract more tourists.

One major problem found in Yangon is the high rates of accommodation. There have been many complaints and tour packages were canceled due to high room rates of hotels there, largely due to inadequate supply of hotel rooms in the city. Daw Sabai Aung, the managing director of Nature Dream Travels and Tour, was hoping that Mandalay hotels won't increase their rates once the Bangkok-Mandalay direct flight commences so as not to discourage tourists from coming to their city.

In preparation for the launch of the direct service, Thai AirAsia offered a promotional one-way fare of US$49 between Bangkok and Mandalay and US42 for its Bangkok-Yangon route. The fare already includes taxes and fees.

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