UnitedMyanmar.com, Myanmar (Burma)

Myanmar airline in Region deal TTG Asia, Dec 08 - Dec 14, 2000. SINGAPORE – Region Air, a Singapore-based company engaged in the business of leasing, buying and selling aircraft, has signed a longterm joint venture agreement with Myanmar Airways International (MAI). From January 1, Region Air will take a 49 per cent stake in MAI and will also provide management, marketing, accounting, finance strategy and cost control, technical and operations management. MAI runs regular flights between Yangon and Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kunming, Dhaka and Jakarta. The remaining 51 per cent is held by a Myanmar company and Myanmar Airways. Chairman of MAI, Mr U Maung Ohn, said: "We are extremely pleased to have Region Air as an investor and partner. They have a very successful track record in assisting airlines in developing and newly-developed countries all over the world." Chairman of Region Air Myanmar, Mr George Yin Soon, said: "MAI is a lesser known but good airline. What we want to do...is to make a good airline into an even more well known and better airline." "We will look into upgrading systems and procedures and in introducing new technology which will allow better inventory and yield management and load factors." A new MAI management team is being identified and will be put in place in the next few weeks. Most positions will be occupied by Myanmar nationals. MAI currently has two aircraft, the 146-seat B737-400, flown by expatriate pilots with Myanmar cabin crew. A full fleet and crew evaluation will be conducted in the coming months. The carrier’s website www.myanmarinternational.com, is under construction.

June launch for new airline:
United Myanmar Airline

By Myo Theingi Cho

A SECOND national airline is expected to begin operations later this year, airline industry sources said last week. They said the airline, United Myanmar Air, will begin operations in June using two leased Boeing 737 planes capable of carrying up to 400 passengers each.

The airline will be a joint venture between the Hong Kong-based Sunshine Strategic Investment Company and domestic carrier, Myanma Airways, an enterprise of the Ministry of Transport, the sources said.

They said United Myanmar Air will fly to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, the same destinations served by the national carrier, Myanmar Airways International.

United Myanmar Air's flights to the three destinations will be aimed at replacing some of the services which have been dropped from MAl's schedule.

For example, UMA will offer a daily evening flight to Bangkok to replace the service cut by MAl last year.

Increasing the frequency of services by Myanmar carriers to regional destinations was important for the nation's image, one industry source said. He said that UMA would increase its fleet to five if there was strong demand for its flights.

Discussions on launching the airline had begun late last year, the source said. Once the airline was operating it was likely that MAl would lease another aircraft and begin services to destinations in India and Japan, he said.

June launch for new airline: United Myanmar Airline

June launch for new airline:
United Myanmar Airline