Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited (“YACL”), operator of Yangon International Airport (“YIA”), today welcomes the inaugural flight of Indian air carrier IndiGo from Kolkata to YIA, marking the first scheduled daily flight from any Indian city to the gateway to Myanmar.
IndiGo will operate an Airbus A320, which can accommodate 180 passengers, for the flight which will take between two to two-and-a-half hours each way. The service will enhance air links between Myanmar and India – two countries which enjoy rich historical and cultural ties.
The additional flight follows recent promotions by YACL, Myanmar Tourism Marketing and IndiGo to promote air links targeted at commercial passengers as well as Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar visiting sacred sites in India such as Bodha Gaya and Indian pilgrims to temples and monasteries including the Shwedagon Pagoda and Bagan, recently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, among others.
The Myanmar government also recently extended its visas-on-arrival grant to Indian passport holders till the end of September 2020.
With the addition of this new airline, YIA now connects to 33 international destinations operated by 34 international airlines.
IndiGo Flight Schedule:
Flight # – Departure – Arrival
6E1398 – Kolkata (11:30) – Yangon (14:30)
6E1399 – Yangon (15:30) – Kolkata (16:30)
Celebrating the inaugural flight at Yangon International Airport
The celebration event was held at Terminal 1 and graced by H.E U Kyaw Myo, Deputy Minister for the Ministry of Transport and Communications, India’s Ambassador to Myanmar H.E Mr. Saurabh Kumar, and U Khin Aung Tun, Vice Chairman of Myanmar Tourism Federation. Officials from the Department of Civil Aviation, Myanmar Tourism Federation, IndiGo team, YIA officials and airline partners were also present at the event.
During his opening remarks, H.E U Kyaw Myo said: “IndiGo is the largest passenger airline in India by fleet size and I am pleased that they will be operating here in Yangon International Airport starting today. We are very confident that IndiGo air will contribute to the development of tourism as well as trade and commerce between India and Myanmar.”
H.E Mr. Saurabh Kumar said “It is very satisfying to see IndiGo establishing this connection between Yangon and Kolkata. IndiGo has over 120 flights out of Kolkata to different destinations in India. In essence, passengers from Yangon now have access to most of the major destinations in India.”
U Khin Aung Tun, Vice Chairman of Myanmar Tourism Federation said “We, Myanmar Tourism Federation together with our sister association Myanmar Tourism Marketing, will fully support and coordinate with tourism stakeholders and the Government to further develop our tourism industry. We are also planning to participate in more roadshows in India in the near future to develop tourism between the two countries.”
Mr. William Boulter, Chief Commercial Officer of IndiGo, said “Our service is based on three foundations: courteous and hassle-free service, good on-time performance and lastly, affordable fare for the passengers. And for the convenience of every passenger flying with IndiGo, we started our operation with daily flight schedule straightaway. Today you will see IndiGo’s first scheduled flight in Yangon, but don’t think it will be our only flight; we will be adding as much as we can.”
“YACL is proud in having contributing for the enhancing of another important air link between India and Myanmar. This is the result of a road show done last June in Kolkata – India, in a fruitful partnership with MTM, just three months ago. IndiGo has now commenced scheduled daily flights, and we hope that number of frequencies will increase in soon, as well as more Indian carriers to come,” said Mr. Jose Angeja, COO of YACL.
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