Air Mandalay ran into problems in the middle of last year and was forced into suspending the Yangon-Chiang Mai route. In December, the airline cancelled all services on its domestic routes.
The need to suspend the services was put down to delays in the arrivals of new aircraft and also on not complying with civil aviation regulations. Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation only allows domestic carriers to use aircraft under 20 years old.
Air Mandalay CEO Sai Kham Park Hpa blamed extortionate import taxes for the delay in acquiring new aircraft. With the recent addition of two Embraer ERJ 145s plus the imminent arrival of the first of five Mitsubishi aeroplanes, Air Mandalay is back in business.
Air Mandalay was inaugurated in 1994 and is largely privately owned with shareholders in both Singapore and Malaysia. When Air Mandalay’s domestic flights are airborne again they will serve destinations such as Mandalay, Bagan and Ngapali.
Air Mandalay takes to the skies again
News in Asia
The head operations officer of Air Mandalay says the carrier is all set to resume flying scheduled routes again. Speaking to media sources in Myanmar, Kham Park Pha, stated that domestic services are due to commence on 1 May and international flights to the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai before the end of 2015.