P. O. Box 50, Myachkovo Airport, Liubertsi, Moscow Region, 140000, Russia; Phone 7 (095) 552-3525; Fax 7 (095) 552-2216; Year Founded 1994. The aerial work division of Bykkovo, the aerial mapping service based near Moscow, Myachkovo is encouraged in 1994 to establish a charter operation, to generate currency to replace lost state funding. Under the leadership of Yuri V. Tsibin, ad hoc flights commence with a fleet that includes 20 Antonov An-2s and 35 An-30s, plus a large helicopter fleet of 25 each Mil Mi-2s and Mi-8s. Survey, energy support, air ambulance, air taxi, communications, and cargo are among the types of services provided.
Flights continue in 1995-2000, during which years the fleet is rationalized downward to include 10 An-30s, 1 An-26, 4 Mi-8/17s, and 2 Mi-2s.
MYANMAR AIRWAYS, LTD.: No. 104 Strand Road, P. O. Box 1246, Yangon, Myanmar; Phone 95 (1) 84 566; Fax 95 (1) 89 583; Code UB; Year Founded 1989. Burma Airways, Ltd. is renamed on April 1, 1989. The previous routes of Managing Director Capt. Khin Soe’s carrier are maintained and include stops linking Yangon with Akyab, Bhamo, Heho, Kalemyo, Kawthuang, Kengtung, Kyaukpyu, Kahmti, Lashio, Loikaw, Mandalay, Mergui, Mong Sat, Moulmein, Mytikyina, Nyaung U, Putao, Sandoway, and Tavoy. The fleet comprises 2 Fokker F.28-4000s, 1 F.28-1000, and 6 F.27-600s. Two Aerospatiale SA-330J Puma helicopters are also available.
En route from Mergui to Yangon on October 6, an F.28-4000 with 85 passengers is taken over by 2 teenaged boys, who divert the aircraft to an air force base in Thailand and there seek political asylum.
Enplanements for the year total 308,000.
Operations continue apace in 1990 as passenger boardings climb to 406,000. In 1991, the fleet includes the 2 Pumas, 1 F.27-500, 5 F.27-600s, 1 F.28-1000, and 2 F.28-4000s. In 1992, airline employment is 1,073 and Jakarta is added on services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
In 1993, the workforce stands at 1,100 and the fleet includes 4 F.27-600s, 2 each F.28-4000s and Aerospatiale Pumas, and 1 F.28-1000. In the spring, a new international subsidiary, Myanmar International Airways, Ltd., is formed to handle the carrier’s foreign operations in cooperation with Royal Brunei Airlines.
Capt. Thura U. Win Myint is appointed managing director in 1994 and oversees both the domestic and international operations. In early 1995, the company begins to coordinate services with the Yangon-based charter operator Air Mandalay (Pty.), Ltd.
Flights continue in 1996-1997 and the fleet now includes 2 Eurocopter SA-330J Puma helicopters, as well as 1 Fokker F.27-400, 6 F.27-600s, 1 F.28-1000, and 2 F.28-4000s.
While landing at Mergui in a rainstorm on July 24 of the former year following a service from Yangon, an F.27-600 with 5 crew and 44 passengers undershoots the runway by 800ft., runs over an unfinished runway extension, and plunges into a 25-ft.-wide ditch (8 dead).
Also during these years, many of the country’s 60 small airstrips are upgraded, a new international airport is under construction at Mandalay, and plans are put in place to extend the airfields in Tachilek, Kawthaung, Pangan, and Ngapoli. Work begins on a large new international airport at Yangon, scheduled to be completed in the year 2002.
Destinations visited in this period and in 1998 include Bangkok, Dawe, Dhaka, Heho, Hong Kong, Kalemyo, Kengtung, Kyaukpyu, Lashio, Loikaw, Mandalay, Maulmyine, Mong Hsan, Myeik, Myitkyina, Nyaung-U, Putao, Singapore, Sittwe, Tachilek, and Thandwe.
On August 25, en route from Yangon to Tachilek, 350 mi. N on the Thai border, Flight 635, an F.27-600 with 3 crew and 39 passengers, crashes into Payakha Mountain near Manibagi in monsoon conditions; there are no survivors.
MYANMAR INTERNATIONAL AIRWAYS, LTD.: No. 123 Sule Pagoda Road, Kyauktada Tsp., Yangon, Myanmar; Phone 95 (1) 84 566; Fax 95 (1) 89 583; Http://www. mai-airline. com; Code UB; Year Founded 1993. MIA is established at Yangon in the spring of 1993 as a subsidiary of Brunei’s Baiduri Group-backed, Singapore-based Hygh-sonic Enterprise (60%) and Myanmar Airways, Ltd. (40%), which will continue to largely operate domestic services. Outfitted with a single Boeing 757-2M6ER leased from Royal Brunei Airlines, the company, in cooperation with the Brunei flag carrier, undertakes scheduled regional services in May to Bangkok, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
While landing at Kawthaung on October 6 after a service from Yangon, an F.27-600 with 4 crew and 41 passengers, overruns the runway and comes to rest 250 ft. further on against the banks of a stream; although the aircraft is damaged, there are no fatalities.
Capt. Thura U. Win Myint is appointed managing director of both the domestic and international operations in 1994. During the fall, the RBA Boeing is replaced by a B-737-4H6 chartered from Malaysian Airlines, Ltd. (MAS). In December, it is employed to implement a block-space agreement with MAS on services from Yangon to Kuala Lumpur.
Flights continue apace in 1995. Routes are stretched to Dhaka, Kunming, and Jakarta. On September 25, 1996, an interline agreement is reached with Japan Air Lines Company, Ltd. (2). Under its terms, a total of 21 of 29 weekly JAL flights between Bangkok and Japan will connect with MAI services to Yangon.
Additional destinations added in 1997 include Manila, Penang, and Taipei. Yield is significantly impacted by the Asian economic crisis during the second half of the year.
Economic problems continue to plague the carrier in 1998, even as Yangon’s political isolation deepens. Service to Dhaka, Kunming, and Jakarta is discontinued, leaving Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore as the only routes. Hyghsonic Enterprises informs its Myanmar partner that it wants to pull out of its arrangement.
During the early fall, negotiations are begun between Myanmar Airways, Ltd. and Taiwan-based EVA Airways Company, Ltd. concerning a possible equity stake of as large as 50% plus management control. In October, a team is dispatched to Yangon from Taipei to carry out due diligence and in November, as the studies continue, EVA makes a provisional proposal to acquire the Hyghsonic Enterprises shares.
Having completed its studies and reviewed all possibilities, EVA, during the first week of January 1999, drops its planned buy into MAI. The airline will now continue operations as before, seeking new arrangements and funding as it can.
Under terms of a new code-sharing agreement, the carrier, together with Air Macao Company, Ltd., launches thrice-weekly roundtrips between Macao and Yangon on March 13.
Service with the two B-737-4H6s leased from Malaysia Airlines, Ltd. continues into the new millennium without headline or incident. It is reported in December 2000 that Singapore-based Regionair has won a 15-year management contract after purchasing a 49% equity stake.
World History
