Thread: Burma : Air Bagan

Myanmar private airline plans three more destinations this year
Editor: Lin Zhi

YANGON, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Myanmar private airline of Air Bagan has planned to add flight services to three more destinations of Cambodia, Thailand and China this year, sources with the airline said on Sunday.

These new destinations include Cambodia's Siem Reap, Thailand's Phuket and Chaing Mai and China's Kunming and Guangzhou. Of them, the flight service between Yangon and Chaing Mai had started last Thursday.

The Air Bagan once launched its first international scheduled flight service to Bangkok on May 15, 2007 and the second's to Singapore on Sept. 7 the same year but both of the flight services were suspended in 2008.

The Air Bagan is flying domestically to 20 destinations -- Yangon, Mandalay, Nay Pyi Taw, Nyaung Oo, Taunggyi, Kalay, Myitkyina, Putao, Kyaington, Tachileik, Lashio, Thandwe, Sittwe, Dawei, Kawthoung, Myeik, Heho, Monywa, Honmalin and Pathein. Its two international destinations are Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur and Thailand's Chaing Mai.

Inaugurated in November 2004, Air Bagan, the first full private-invested airline in Myanmar set up by the Htoo Company, stands the third largest domestic private airline in the country after Air Mandalay and Yangon Airways.

Using two Fokker F-100 aircrafts, two ATR -72 aircrafts and twoATR-42 aircrafts, the Air Bagan has been flying the above destinations.

news.xinhuanet.com



Carl Parkes -- FriskoDude: Air Bagan Insurance Cancelled

Burmese Women Take to the Air
MOE YAN
Thursday, January 14, 2010

For the first time in Burmese aviation history, three women will be granted pilot licenses. The three will fly later this year for Air Bagan, a private Burmese airline owned by billionaire Tay Za, a close friend of the family of junta chief Snr-Gen Than Shwe.

A senior pilot from Air Bagan told The Irrawaddy: “The three women trained for two years at the Integrated Aviation Academy in Malaysia. They will fly both domestic and international airplanes and are licensed to work on private flights.”


Air hostesses from Air Bagan pose for a photograph at Yangon [Rangoon] International Airport.

Although this is first time women have qualified as pilots, we intend to train several more, he said, adding: “It is great to see women taking on these important roles.”

According to the China Daily, only 16 countries in the world, including China, the US, the UK, Germany, Spain and Pakistan, have female pilots, and officially just eight countries have women trained as fighter pilots.

Air Bagan currently flies to 17 destinations in Burma and recently launched flights from Rangoon to Chiang Mai in Thailand. It has announced that it intends to launch regular flights to Bangkok and Singapore in the near future.

Airline owner Tay Za is currently sanctioned by the US government as are several of his businesses. However, Air Bagan is not on any sanction list. Tay Za's construction company, Htoo Trading, recently secured contracts to work with state-run Chinese companies in building several giant hydroelectric dams in Burma.

irrawaddy.org

I would not risk my life in one airplane of these burmese airway. And not ready to spend my money there going right in the junta's pockets.

Air Bagan plans Yangon-Phuket route
Sep 19, 2010

Yangon - Air Bagan will launch twice-a-week flights between Yangon and Thailand's Phuket beach resort in December as part of its expansion plans, media reports said Sunday.

Air Bagan, owned by Myanmar tycoon and alleged military crony Tay Za, already operates a flight between Yangon and Chiang Mai, Thailand's main northern tourist attraction.

The privately run airline also plans to open new routes to Bangkok; Siem Reap, Cambodia; Kunming, China; Kuala Lumpur and Singapore 'in the near future,' the Myanmar Times reported, citing airline officials.

'We are planning to begin the Phuket route in the first week of December,' Sao Thanda Noi, Air Bagan's sales and marketing manager, told the paper.

'There will be scheduled flights twice a week, every Monday and Friday.'

The route will use a Fokker aircraft with a capacity for 100 passengers.

Air Bagan also announced that it would increase the frequency from two to three flights a week on its Yangon-Chiang Mai route beginning in November.

monstersandcritics.com

Carl Parkes -- FriskoDude: Air Bagan Insurance Cancelled

see also :

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...tml#post747418 (Burmese Weekly : Vol 41 , WE Sun 7th Sep '08)

https://teakdoor.com/thailand-and-asi...tml#post814737

Protesters target Air Bagan for boycott over junta links
Thea Forbes
Friday, 29 October 2010

Chiang Mai (Mizzima) – A group of westerners launched a boycott against Air Bagan in northern Thailand yesterday over its tycoon owner’s close connections to the ruling Burmese military junta.


Protestors calling for a boycott of the airline run by junta crony tycoon Tay Za wield placards outside the Air Bagan office in Chiang Mai, Thailand on Thursday, October 28, 2010.
Among other signs were posters of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi inscribed: ‘We want a real election, not a military selection.’
Photo: Mizzima

Nine protesters gathered outside of the office of the largest private airline in Burma in Chiang Mai, Thailand to register their opposition to junta cronies, such as the carrier’s owner, billionaire Tay Za.

“Our boycott against Air Bagan is about informing travellers to Burma to look for alternatives to travelling on Air Bagan, and not allowing them to expand unchecked in Thailand,” demonstration spokesman Garret Kostin told Mizzima.

Protesters arrived at the airline’s office at noon on Thursday armed with placards, leaflets and whistles. Employees of Air Bagan quickly shut the office after the protest commenced.

The demonstators then walked around Loi Kroh Road and Thapae Gate (the ancient entrance to the old city), and other tourist areas of Chiang Mai, delivering leaflets and information in Thai and English to pedestrians, travel agencies and tour operators.

Tay Za is a close business associate of the military regime and a confidant of junta chief Than Shwe.

The Air Bagan office opened in Chiang Mai in July and has been running flights twice a week between Chiang Mai and Rangoon.

The carrier has had failed attempts to secure international routes to Bangkok and Singapore, leaving it Chiang Mai as an important international destination.

Kyi Kyi Aye, a director at the Ministry of Hotel and Tourism in Burma told the Chiang Mai Mail in July that: “The office marks a new stage in Myanmar-Thailand tourism co-operation.”

Tay Za has formed another proxy airline named Asia Wing, according to report in The Irrawaddy magazine this month. It will apparently be managed through a prominent travel company in Burma to escape the problems Air Bagan has faced, which included heavy losses from targeted financial sanctions from the United States and European Union countries and problems gaining insurance.

In 2008, British bank and insurer Lloyds TSB rejected the airline’s insurance policy renewal and by the end of the year, the airline was supposedly operating without sufficient cover. It is now believed to be covered by a Russian insurer.

Air Bagan’s office in Rangoon was unavailable for comment.

mizzima.com

!

Phuket Update Phuket media is awaiting with interest an announcement scheduled for today in Patong by Burma's Air Bagan. The airline already flies routes inside Burma and twice-weekly from Yangon to Chiang Mai and to Kuala Lumpur. Is Phuket the airline's next international destination?

Last month, afp reported that Burma's Tay Za, who owns Air Bagan and a string of luxury hotels, was a top target of US financial sanctions and described as "a notorious regime henchman and arms dealer" by the US Treasury.

German news agency dpa says that Tay Za is on a list of ''crony businessmen'' who are denied visas to Europe and the US and whose foreign assets have been frozen as part of economic sanctions against the military regime in Burma.

At airbagan.com the corporate mission is: ''To contribute towards development of Tourism and Air Transport Industry in Myanmar, offering high quality Customer Service on every flight we operate, as well as produce a fair return on investments.''

Burma's Air Bagan Eyes Phuket; Thailand Tops for Women; Phuket Push on Public Property - Phuket Wan

Did Burma re-start the Visa on arrival program? I tried Google and found answers that said both yes and no.

Might be worth seeing, if I did not have to get a visa in advance.

AIR BAGAN is planning to launch two direct flights a week between Phuket and the old capital of Burma that remains its biggest city, Yangon.

snip

Anyone who flies Air Bagan to Yangon or who takes a tour package to resorts owned by Tay Za is supporting the generals.

snip

Because of its special connections, Air Bagan is able to offer a visa-on-arrival service for $30 with two photos for non-Thais. Thais need to allow 28 days to process a visa through the Burmese embassy in Bangkok.

Air Bagan to Fly Twice Weekly from Phuket to Burma - Phuket Wan

Two British tourists injured in Burma plane crash which left two dead

• The Air Bagan plane crash landed in a paddy field in heavy fog
• Two Americans and a Korean also among the 11 people confirmed injured
  

By Richard Shears

PUBLISHED: 09:44 GMT, 25 December 2012 | UPDATED: 11:11 GMT, 25 December 2012

Two British tourists were among passengers injured when a jet packed with Christmas holidaymakers crashed in eastern Burma today.

Two people were killed, 11 were injured and airline officials confirmed that a Briton was among those rushed to hospital, along with an American and a Korean.

Earlier, British officials had been urgently trying to establish if Britons were on board the plane which crash landed in a rice paddy.


Ablaze: The Air Bagan passenger plane burst into flames when it crash landed two miles short of Heho airport


Wreckage: Two Britons are known to be among the injured passengers


Rescue: Burmese authorities work next to the ageing aircraft that was carrying 65 passengers

Hours after the crash, it had still not been established if other Britons were among the fortunate who escaped from the burning wreckage unharmed.

More than 50 people on the old aircraft - which was carrying 65 passengers - were said to be ‘foreigners’ and the fact that Burma has made tourism easier raised immediate concerns that British nationals were on the Fokker 100 jet.

First reports said an 11-year-old passenger and a man riding a motor cycle on a road where the plane crash landed were killed.

Residents said the plane burst into flames when it came down some two miles short of Heho airport in the Shan state and those who escaped were ‘very lucky’.


Split: The Air Bagan plane broke in half on impact, according to Burmese officials


Carnage: Burmese authorities said the plane split in half on impact


Smouldering: Rescuers work to put out the flames

The plane was forced to make an emergency landing after fire broke out in one of its engines and it reportedly struck part of a mountain as it approached the airport in fog.

Four passengers, said Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut, were foreigners.

One of the two pilots of the jet, operated by the private airline Air Bagan, was among the injured, said first reports.

The airline is owned by Tay Za, a tycoon known for his close links to the former military junta. It operates two Fokker 100 jets, which are no longer manufactured.

The injured passengers were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Taunggyi for treatment for broken bones, burns, cuts and shock.


Tourism: Air Bagan is trying to capitalise on the country's burgeoning tourism industry (file picture)

‘Because of the emergency landing near the airport, the plane broke up in the middle,’ an official said.

A local tour guide waiting at the airport for passengers said the fire had ‘burned almost the whole plane.’

The fact that Heho airport is the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake added to fears that Britons, who were spending the Christmas holidays in Burma, were on board.

Air Bagan is one of several domestic carriers seeking to profit from the tourist boom as the country emerges from decades of military style.

The junta has been undermined in recent years by the support given to Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy.

Read more: Burma plane crash: Two British tourist injured in crash that has killed two people | Mail Online

Burma Air Bagan emergency landing kills two at Heho
25 December 2012


The BBC's Jonathan Head says the plane was flying a popular route

At least two people have been killed and another 11 injured after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Burma, officials say.

The Air Bagan plane was carrying more than 60 passengers. Two Britons are believed to be among those hurt.

It was on its way from the city of Rangoon to Heho airport in Shan state when it crash-landed about 3km (two miles) from the runway.

Reports say a fire in one of the engines may have caused the accident.

Burmese government officials have confirmed a passenger was found dead inside the plane.

A motorcyclist near Heho airport was also killed when the Fokker jet made its emergency landing in thick fog in a rice field.

The UK Foreign Office said it was working with Burmese authorities to establish whether two of the foreigners wounded in the crash were British.



"Our acting consul is en route to Heho Airport and the charge d'affaires has been deployed to Rangoon airport as we understand that some passengers involved in the incident are being flown there," a UK Foreign Office spokesman said.

Swiss survivor Leandre Guillod, 28, told the BBC from a hospital in Rangoon that the crash happened just before the plane landed as it was flying through some clouds.

"Suddenly we just hit the ground and then it was all red and orange," he said.

Mr Guillod said a stewardess subsequently managed to open the emergency exit.

"I was pretty much at the back... there was an opening above the wing, there was lots of fire so me and my girlfriend just jumped because we thought it was better to get out as soon as possible before it might explode."


Survivor: 'We thought the plane might explode'

Two pilots were also among the injured, who are reported to have been taken to Sao San Tun Hospital in Shan's capital, Taunggyi.

"The cause of the accident is not clear yet. Only the pilots will know the cause, but we can't contact them yet as they have been sent to hospital," Air Bagan spokesman Ye Min Oo said in a statement.

Sources told AFP news agency a fire had started in one of the engines. The plane broke in half when it crashed, eyewitnesses said.

Heho is the gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake in Shan state.

Air Bagan is one of handful of privately owned carriers flying domestic routes in Burma. The airline operated two Fokker-100 jets, which are no longer being manufactured.

Diplomats have routinely expressed concern about the safety of Burma's domestic airlines, which have been unable to modernise their fleets because of sanctions, and whose safety checks are not published, the BBC's south-east Asia correspondent Jonathan Head reports.

The rapidly increasing number of foreigners visiting Burma is putting a strain on those airlines, which offer the only way of getting around such a large country with very poor roads and railways, he says.

bbc.co.uk

You would have to be certifiable to fly with these clowns

Airplane Crash Will Not Hurt Tourism, Says Govt
KYAW PHYO THA
Additional reporting by Paul Vrieze
December 29, 2012


An Air Bagan plane crashed in Heho, Shan State, on Dec. 25, 2012.
(Photo: Reuters)

RANGOON—The Tourism Ministry has played down the possible impact of the fatal Christmas Day plane crash on Burma’s tourism industry and argued that it would not affect the growth in foreign visitors. A local tour operator said, however, that flights had been canceled following the crash and warned that foreign visitors were concerned about airline safety in Burma.

“There will be no serious impact on the tourism sector,” Hlaing Myint, the deputy director-in-chief of the Ministry of Hotels and Tourism told The Irrawaddy during an interview at his office on Thursday. “Aviation accidents tend to happen even in developed countries.”

On Christmas morning, a 21-year-old Air Bagan Fokker 100 jet crashed on approach to Heho Airport, the main gateway to the popular tourist destination of Inle Lake in Shan State, while carrying 71 people, including 48 foreigners.

The terrified passengers had just 90 seconds to escape the airplane, which had broken up and caught fire. A Burmese tour guide and a motorcyclist were killed as the airplane tried to make an emergency landing on a highway. Four foreigners were injured in the crash.

Hlaing Myint said that despite the deadly accident—which made headlines around the world—international visitor numbers would continue to grow. “Visitors still kept increasing after a jet crash-landed in Sittwe,” he said, referring to an accident in the Arakan State capital where a Myanma Airways flight made a crash-landing in 2009 that injured two passengers.

“We are also expecting no less than 1.5 million visitors next year. Accidents tend to happen everywhere. It’s natural,” Hlaing Myint added.

Since the start Burma’s political reforms and a relaxation of visitor rules last year, the country has seen an upsurge in tourism. The Tourism Ministry told AFP last week more than one million tourists will visit Burma this year, with 400,000 entering overland.

However, Rangoon-based tour operator Ayarwaddy Legend Travels and Tours said foreign visitors were taking notice of the recent airplane accident and some had reacted by calling off scheduled flights with the airline.

“We already have some clients who have cancelled their flights with Air Bagan. They now have to take the bus,” said a manager at the tour operator, who preferred not be named.

Concerns about air safety and other issues were important to foreign tourists and some chose to avoid Air Bagan and Air KBZ, the manager said. “Some of our clients are very concerned about these airlines, they don’t want to use them.” she said. “This limits our [travel planning] options.”

Burmese airlines “should be very concerned about air passenger security and do proper maintenance on their airplanes,” according to the manager, who said that not doing so could endanger the growth of the country’s tourism industry.

Asked if his ministry would ask the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) to tighten security measures for Burmese airlines, Hlaing Myint said, “We can’t order them what they should do.

The most we can do is collaborate with relevant ministries. I think our boss [the Tourism Minister] will take it seriously.”

The Irrawaddy repeatedly called the DCA at the Transport Ministry for a reaction, but was told officials were not available for comment.

Aviation Week reported on Thursday that the DCA had introduced new regulations this year, requiring that aircraft imported into Burma must be no older than 20 years, while aircraft already in the country must be no older than 25 years.

Air Bagan’s crashed Fokker 100 was 21 years old while the airline’s second Fokker 100 is 22 years old and will have to be phased out in 2014, according to Aviation Week.

Several airplane crashes have been reported in Burma in the past and local airlines have been criticized over their poor safety standards. Prior to the 2009 crash in Sittwe, another Myanma Airways airplane crashed in Thandwe, Arakan State, in January 1998, killing 14 people.

In 2008, the British Foreign Commonwealth Office warned its staff to avoid Myanma Airways flights and Air Bagan flights that use Fokker 100 aircraft.

Air Bagan is one five Burmese airlines flying domestic routes. Some of Burma’s airlines are owned by US-sanctioned business cronies of the former military regime such as Tay Za, who owns Air Bagan, and Kanbawza Bank Chairman Aung Ko Win, who owns Air KBZ.

irrawaddy.org

I'm off to Burma in January flying AA out of Bangkok.

Once in Burma we have two local flights, one to Mandalay and the other to Bagan.

The place is nuts, hotels full, planes full, scank tourists flooding in.

Fair well dear friends.

Have a safe Trip Terry. Look forward to the pics. Don't get fokked by another old fokker.

Originally Posted by Mid

You would have to be certifiable to fly with these clowns

I'm sure with this new popular route, most will abandon their worst fears.

Rather like the nasty reputation [justified] that Lao Aviation aquired for some time...leading into today.

If the truth were to be known, most of the regional airlines suck in one capacity or another. The cnuts just can't get it right.

^Lao airlines seem to have lifted there game , When was there last accident? i use them regularly, The French built ATR seems to be a decent little plane and lately they have bought some new airbus, they are being flown by thai or filipino expats on the VTE- singapore or bangkok routes, they are also starting a service to guangjao and busan, ive got my doubts about the new airline called Lao central though , owned by Phonsavanh bank, planes look new but its just a paint job ,the interior reveals they are in fact getting on a bit Ashtrays in the seatrest?

Air Bagan crash in Shan State due to pilot error, says inquiry
Saw Zin Nyi
Saturday, 02 February 2013

The crash-landing of an Air Bagan airplane in Shan State on Christmas Day was due to pilot error, said Win Swe Tun, the chairman of the Investigation Commission.


The wreckage of Air Bagan's 22-year-old Fokker-100 which crashed en route to Heho in Shan State on December 25, 2012, killing one passenger and one motorcyclist on the ground.
( PHOTO: Htoo Eain)

Speaking at a press conference in Rangoon on Friday, he said that the pilot brought the plane toward Heho Airport at less than 500 feet in thick fog. “The captain made the wrong decision, and so he must bear responsibility for the crash,” said Win Swe Tun.

Two people were killed -- one of whom was on the ground -- and 11 passengers were injured when the 22-year-old Foker-100 attempted to make a crash landing some 2-3 km short of Heho Airport in Southern Shan State on December 25. Heho is the main tourist gateway to Inle Lake, and many foreign visitors were on the plane.

He failed to fly at the correct height, and consequently could not see clearly nor react in time, said Win Swe Tun, adding: “I think the captain’s decision was poor.”

It was disclosed at the press briefing that the pilot has 5,937 flying hours experience, and had flown a total of 2,547 hours for Air Bagan.

The inquiry chairman noted that the pilot did not receive any instructions from the control tower, and that the plane had collided with an electrical pylon at a height of about 500 feet before crashing through trees and impacting a passing motorcyclist on the ground.

Initially, the plane’s black box was sent to Singapore for examination. However, the flight data recorder was burnt, so on December 18 it was transferred to Australia for examination, according to the Investigation Commission.

mizzima.com

A few months ago there was visa on arrival ex cambodia but only on air bagan.But what a bunfight at the airport-dont do it.

Two injured as plane overshoots runway in Shan State
Friday, 17 May 2013

A passenger plane carrying 55 people overran the end of the runway at an airport in eastern Myanmar due to suspected break failure, injuring two people, state media reported on Friday.

The propeller, landing gear and engine of the Chinese-made Xian MA60 turboprop were damaged in the incident, which happened at Monghsat in Shan State on Thursday morning, according to the New Light of Myanmar newspaper.

The flight was operated by state-owned Myanma Airways, according to the report, which said the two injured were sent to hospital, without giving details about their condition.

Concerns about Myanmar's air safety were heightened by an airplane crash-landing in December at Heho airport, also in Shan State, that left two people dead, with foreign tourists fleeing the burning jet.

Myanmar's aviation and tourist industries are struggling to keep up with fast-growing demand as foreign visitors flock to the country, which is emerging from decades of junta rule.

mizzima.com