Myanmar has approved the plan to upgrade the domestic terminal at Yangon International Airport, to boost capacity from 2.7 million passengers to 6 million a year.
According to the Department for Civil Aviation, the government’s economic committee, chaired by President Thein Sein, recently approved the upgrade of Yangon International Airport. The economic committee has representatives from 15 ministries.
Department for Civil Aviation general director, Tin Naing Tun, said the department has received the economic committee’s approval for the upgrade.
According to the upgrade plan, the domestic terminal will be demolished and replaced by a new terminal in 18 months.
Meanwhile, the airport’s VIP hall will be used as a domestic terminal during the construction period.
The international terminal will remain unchanged.
Pioneer Aerodrome Services, a subsidiary of Myanmar’s conglomerate Asia World, was selected for the upgrade.
Yangon International Airport is the main international gateway, although Mandalay has seen a big increase in airline traffic.
International arrivals increased from 1.6 million tourists in 2009 to 3.08 million tourists in 2012, according Yangon airport data.
The international terminal opened in May 2007 and handles 1.4 million passengers, while the domestic terminal handled 1.3 million passengers last year.
To help ease the congestion at this airport, Myanmar is also planning to build a new international airport in Hantharwady, which is expected to start operations in 2017. The Hantharwady International Airport will be located at Bago is 80 km from Yangon.
This will provide an easier access for tourists to travel within Myanmar and avoid the overloading situation in the high travel season.
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