Yangon bound

Myanmar Airways International (MAI) is slated for a November 2 launch of bi-weekly flights between Phnom Penh and Myanmar’s economic hub and former capital, Yangon, Cambodian Aviation officials said yesterday.

The flights – on 162-seat A320 jets – will transfer in Siem Reap before continuing on to Phnom Penh, Tep Sun Tary, director of air transport for the State Secretariat for Civil Aviation, said.  

The agreement for the flights was signed between the two countries’ tourism ministers earlier this year. The Post reported in September that Phnom Penh-Yangon flights would begin October 29.

Inadequate preparation accounted for the delay, Tep Sun Tary said. MAI launched direct flights between Yangon and Siem Reap in February. Visitors from Myanmar increased more than 72 per cent, with 2,808 tourists in the first eight months of 2011, according to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism.

Cambodian Tourism Minister Thong Khon said yesterday that the airlines’ extension to Phnom Penh would help attract more tourists to the three destinations.

“We hope that the triangular flight will to boost the tourism industry in the two countries or in other ASEAN countries,” he said.