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Thai Carriers in Race to Fly to Myanmar
19th Sep 2013
In a race to capture a sizable share in Myanmar's travel market, foreign airlines, especially from neighboring countries such as Thailand and Malaysia, are scrambling to partake in the country's economic boom by opening new routes out of their hubs.
Thailand's Nok Air and Bangkok Airways, in particular, are the latest players to open new routes to Myanmar's key destinations.
Other Thai airlines have already started flying to these Myanmar cities early this year. In anticipation of the unified ASEAN aviation market to take effect in 2015, intra-regional travel within the 10-member countries is expected to boom due to easing of travel restrictions in each country.
Nok Air, the budget subsidiary of Thai Airways, is the first Thai carrier to foray into Myanmar's 4th largest city of Mawlamyine from the Thai border town of Mae Sot. The once-daily service was launched in September 1, 2013 with its promotional one-way ticket for as low as US$55.
The flight will reduce the travel time between the two cities down to 25 minutes from the current 6 hours over land.
Mawlamyine is noted for its Kyaiktiyo Pagoda, a pilgrimage site for Buddhist believers. It is an imposing religious structure with its gold-leaf covered stupa that has been a popular tourist attraction in the city.
Nok Air will also launch a direct service to Rangoon, also from Mae Sot, on October this year.
Other Thai airlines, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia, recently announced their plans to launch their respective service to Naypyidaw, the new capital of Myanmar.
Bangkok Airways, for instance, will be the first foreign carrier to connect Naypyidaw on scheduled service when it launch its thrice-weekly flights from its hub at Don Mueang Airport. It will also become the first Thai airline to fly to the capital as well as the first carrier to link the city with Thailand.
Thai AirAsia, on the other hand, also announced its own plan to fly to Myanmar capital on October 28 this year, making it the second foreign and Thai carrier to serve the city on regular service from Thailand.
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