TOPICAL THEMES

MAI Service to Guangzhou

It is learnt that MAI has planned to fly to Guangzhou, a town in the economic zone of China's southern province in October. The newly arrived Air Bus A 320 will be used on that service.
At present Air China provides a regular Yangon-Guangzhou flight service every Wednesday and Saturday. There is still a small number of passengers from Myanmar.

Thai Airline Twice Daily to Yangon

 

Starting from 2 October the Bangkok-based Thai Airline will fly on its twice-daily service between Bangkok and Yangon. Currently there is only one Yangon-Bangkok flight that starts from Yangon at 2:20 pm and only one Bangkok-Yangon flight at 4:50 pm . The added flight on the Bangkok-Yangon route will start at 10:50 am on 2 October by the same 162-seat capacity Air Bus.

Airfare drops on Yangon-Malaysia route

Airfares on the Yangon-Kuala Lumpur route went down following the start of the AirAsia flight on 26 July.
MAI has said its one-way ticket would cost US $ 120 starting on 20 July. Follwing the global economic downturn in 2008 and the resultant fall in the number of migrant workers travelling by air MAI had reduced its ticket price to US $ 180. At present MAI and the Malaysian Airline are each making 20 flights a month carrying 100 passengers. Sanbumi airline now flies 4 times a week with over 400 passengers aboard.

More Chinese Investment in Myanmar

China, the largest economy in Asia, has increased its investment in Myanmar — 31 sectors in April, as against 28 late last year.
Most of China's investment in Myanmar is in the mining sector and Thailand, the largest investor in Myanmar, has the biggest chunk of its investment in the energy sector.
China, the fourth largest investor in 2009, leapt up to second place according to figures in April. The volume of China's investment in Myanmar that stood at US $ 1331.739 towards the end of 2009, grew to US $ 6364.349. Myanmar registers a trade deficit with China in the financial year 2009-2010, with 635 million dollars' worth of exports and 1258 dollars' worth of imports.

Hotels Getting Set for The Season

The low-cost airline AirAsia has made its air tickets available by cash at its Yangon office at the same price as they are by credit card online.
The airline's Yangon-Bangkok route that started in August 2006 will provide two flights daily beginning on 15 July, followed by the Yangon-Kuala Lumpur flight on 20 July.

Change in Yangon-Vietnam Airfare

In preparation for the coming tourist season some hotels in Ngwesaung, Chaungtha and Inle have started building more rooms and refurbishing the existing ones. These measures are said to be prompted by experiences last year when some tourists complained about insufficient hotel accommodation.
In Yangon, it is learnt, most of the hotels are up against the shortage of space for more accommodation. People in the tourist industry say their business is doing well as things stand today, with signs for further improvement in the coming season.

Five-star Hotel in Myeik

A five-star hotel is now under construction at an estimated cost of 15 millio n dollars in the Myeik archipelago at the southernmost tip of Myanmar, an area designated as part of the ASEAN ancient cultural heritage region. The construction is undertaken by Thailand-based Pearl Loguna Resort Hotel Group. About 60 rooms will be completed by December 2012, to be followed by the completion of 40 more rooms. The rooms are of standard, suite and superior types, and the hotel will be equipped with usual five-star hotel amenities.


Japan's Garment Factory in Myanmar




Since taxation on imports from ASEAN countries was removed, Japan plans to build garment factories in Myanmar and several other ASEAN countries. Already it has such factories operating in Bangladesh and India.
Most of Japan's garment imports are from Myanmar.