Myanmar Airways International (MAI) has announced its plan to introduce direct flights between Yangon, Myanmar, and Vientiane, Laos, in early May this year as part of an ambitious expansion plan to bolster its international network.
The announcement was made during the MAI Flight Forward ceremony on 8 March. During the ceremony, Tanes Kumar, acting CEO and chief commercial officer of MAI, said that the airline will introduce new routes to Chiang Mai, Thailand; Vientiane, Laos; Dhaka, Bangladesh; and others.
“Although there are many challenges at present, MAI will further expand our travel network. The number of foreign flights MAI is flying will increase to 21. I believe that the new flights that will be run again will benefit passengers and colleagues a lot,” said Kumar as reported by Eleven Myanmar.
According to Myanmar’s Ministry of Information, MAI’s new routes to Vientiane, Laos, will operate weekly flights on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting 4 May. Additionally, MAI plans to increase its new international flights with other countries and expand its domestic flight offerings.
Direct flights between Laos and Myanmar have been unavailable for decades. In the 1980s, Lao Airlines stopped flying to Yangon due to the route’s lack of profitability.
The plan to connect the air link between Vientiane Capital and Yangon was also introduced in early 2013. However, Lao Airlines later canceled the plan within the same year, stating the necessity for more time to develop a marketing strategy to ensure adequate profitability of the route.
