Myanmar to resume airport project
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Work on the Myanmar's stalled Hanthawaddy International Airport project will be resumed in 2013 to accommodate the growing number of visitors to the country.
“A brand new airport must be built to accommodate the increasing number of travellers,” said Minister of Transport U Nyan Htun Aung in Nay Pyi Taw.
He explained that the Yangon and Mandalay airports have received growing numbers of travellers every year.
Analysts estimate that Yangon International Airport will draw about 8 million travellers in three years. To manage the increasing numbers, Hanthawaddy International Airport, which is set to accommodate 25 million travellers, will be completed and become operational in three years.
The Hanthawaddy International Airport is located about 80km from Yangon, 3km west of Bago, the capital city of Bago Region. The project, whose construction by Archon & Interregional Investment Ltd of Korea began on March 21, 1994, was subsequently halted.
In the first phase of the construction, the government aims to design the airport to accommodate 10 million travellers. In that phase, one runway and one structure will be built on one part of the site, while the other part will be reserved for future expansion depending on the number of inbound travellers. Any expansion will be undertaken in the second phase.
