Passengers at Yangon International Airport. Ko Taik
/ The Myanmar Times
The Department of Civil Aviation is seeking private investors to help finance
an upgrade of Yangon International Airport.
The airport’s general manager, U Win Ko, said foreign firms could participate
in the upgrade as a joint venture partner.
The government also plans to develop a new international airport for Yangon
at Bago that is scheduled for completion in December 2016.
In the meantime, however, Yangon International Airport will be upgraded from
its present capacity of 2.7 million passengers a year to 3.7 million in 2013 and
five million when the upgrade is completed in 2015, U Win Ko said.
“Until the new airport is finished in 2016, Yangon International Airport will
require further upgrades to handle the increasing number of passengers on
international flights,” Myanmar Tourism Federation secretary U Kyaw Htun
said.
One step that has already been taken to improve the flow of passengers is an
increase in immigration counters.
“There are now 21 immigration counters and more will be added if space
permits. … With more direct international flights starting, we hope to provide a
fast and efficient service,” said U Aung Thiha, assistant director of the
Immigration Department.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport held a meeting on September 17 to
discuss progress on the prequalification phase for companies bidding for a
contract to build Hanthawaddy International Airport near Bago.
Construction work at Hanthawaddy began in 1993 but ceased in 2004. The
government is aiming to restart the shelved project in June 2013 for completion
by December 2016.
In June this year, DCA issued an invitation in state-run media for
prospective local and foreign investors to participate in a selection and tender
process evaluation process.
“We received prequalification submissions from both local and international
contractors and are in the process of selecting the companies that will be
invited to place a project bid in October. It has taken some time but we are on
schedule,” DCA assistant director Daw Nweni Win Kyaw said.
The project will be implemented through either a public private partnership,
a joint venture or a build, operate and transfer scheme, in accordance with
Myanmar’s foreign investment laws.
U Win Ko said the new airport will be able to handle at least seven million
passengers a year. However tourism experts have cautioned that transport links
will need to be improved to entice international tourists to an airport 77
kilometres (48 miles) northeast of Yangon.
The government is also seeking foreign and local private-sector partners to
develop Mandalay International Airport.
Successful bidders will work alongside domestic authorities to upgrade
facilities – including extending the runway – at the airport, which serves
Myanmar’s second-largest city and is one of three international airports in
Myanmar
Ref:mmtime
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