Expats In Myanmar Please Help

[Maverick.11]

Hi, I was wondering if someone with experience flying in Myanmar can help me with some information regarding the country, the aviation authority, airlines, etc, etc as Expat. If is there any stay restriction for Expats, etc..... I have been invited to fly there and I'm looking for some good advice.

Thanks for your help!

[Maverick.11]

Now is working, sorry about that. :)

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[Maverick.11]

Please stay away.

[chuleyes]

Please stay away.
that bad??

[SeaVision]

that bad??
Surprised this thread got bumped - and the OP did a "Stay Away" post :8

Life going on as normal here - the country is still closed to visitors. International commercial scheduled flights are still banned (as of March 2020 - Covid, and then following the coup - the monthly extension to this total ban continues)
Special "Relief Flights" still operate in and out of VYYY on a daily basis to regional destinations:

Note: MNA = Myanmar National Airlines -UB
MAI = Myanmar Airways International - 8M
(the two major Myanmar based international carriers here)

- to Kuala Lumpur daily (MAI/8M daily, MNA/UB at least 4 days per week) - best connections for outbound and returning to Myanmar
- to Bangkok more or less daily (MAI/MNA)
- to Singapore almost daily (MAI/MNA and Singapore Airlines) on Wednesdays and Fridays with SQ761
- Dubai several flights per month with MAI/8M
- Seoul Incheon with a weekly MAI flight

There are also regular relief flights to India (mainly Delhi, but Kolkatta also), occasional Manila flights

Not on the relief flight approved list (so no pax), there's a load of China inbound & outbound flights, Vietnam, Cambodia - ME cargo carriers etc

Won't go into the internal situation here - its not good - but this forum is for the aviation side.

Source for above: expat resident of 20+ years with an aviation and pilot background

[Charlie190]

Left Myanmar few months ago for these reasons,

- Horrible quarantine experience as an expat All pilots every international flight must go to quarantine if you got positive you must move to government quarantine facility (8 bed 1 toilet) sick people no air conditioning worst experience ever - bad food
- Carfew starts at 22.00 restaurants last call 9pm, noise? bombs around the city persist.
- No electricity every day for almost 6 hours
- No ATM's
- Weak management procedures & operation procedures
- Relief flights are at certain days impossible to connex flight to a expat pilot commuting
- Low salaries they took advance of covid 19 but most of the pilots that came here are gone
- quarantine every time you go out of country no salary
- airforce bombing while flying around airline ops
- worst and bad practices for covid restrictions

"life is normal'' perhaps for airline management please don't lie. took advance of pilots because covid 19..almost all gone.. Vietnam now here life is normal no restrictions anymore...

source: expat pilot

[SeaVision]

Left Myanmar few months ago for these reasons,

- Horrible quarantine experience as an expat All pilots every international flight must go to quarantine if you got positive you must move to government quarantine facility (8 bed 1 toilet) sick people no air conditioning worst experience ever - bad food
- Carfew starts at 22.00 restaurants last call 9pm, noise? bombs around the city persist.
- No electricity every day for almost 6 hours
- No ATM's
- Weak management procedures & operation procedures
- Relief flights are at certain days impossible to connex flight to a expat pilot commuting
- Low salaries they took advance of covid 19 but most of the pilots that came here are gone
- quarantine every time you go out of country no salary
- airforce bombing while flying around airline ops
- worst and bad practices for covid restrictions

"life is normal'' perhaps for airline management please don't lie. took advance of pilots because covid 19..almost all gone.. Vietnam now here life is normal no restrictions anymore...

source: expat pilot

I gave a response, in context, for a nearly two year old post.
You paraphrased one part of my entire post "life is normal" - no, I said life goes on as normal - and to clarify this, apologies if you took this meaning specifically for only expat pilots in this country - people here, on the ground - are getting on with life as best as they can.
I refrained from a nuts and bolts overview on what has happened here since Covid and the Coup - yes this country is a ****fight - but on the streets around Yangon it IS back to normal. Traffic jams, shops/restaurants/bars busy every day, everyone has had enough of the lockdowns and curfews since the military coup last February, the police crackdowns in late March following the peaceful protests, and the deployment in force of the army following that from 29th March onwards.

"please don't lie"? Kindly do not accuse me of lying, you have no idea of my history here. You reacted in terms of your individual experience here for whatever period you were in Myanmar. I have been here for most of the past 20+ years - I've been through better and worse. And I am NOT in airline management

You have correctly raised a few points, but things have improved recently (On the ground):

Yes, 10pm to 4am curfew remains in place. Yes, last call usually around 9pm, but that's how it is here. You deal with it or move on
Electricity is out for hours per day in some areas, less in others. Its a given.
Relief flight connections. Yes they were bad - no idea when you left, but there's 60% more frequency on the main relief flight routes from a few months ago. Blame your employer for what you endured earlier - it wasn't ideal, but it wasn't a surprise.
Quarantine every time you were out of country - that was a given, again, take that up with your former employer. It is what it is. Quarantine still in play here Charlie - they use the excuse of Covid, but we both know its more than that.
Worst and bad practises for Covid restrictions. You were in Myanmar - and from your writing I believe that to be true. So you know this isn't wherever your home country is - rules and culture is different her, as I have long learned
You mentioned moving to facility if testing positive - that was a thing - if it happened to you or your colleagues, you have my utmost sympathy - that would have been awful (I have seen the facilities) - things have improved since then, including arbitrary self isolation at home or hotel if positive.Still not perfect yet - but a move in the right direction

Yes - the civil aviation scene here isn't ideal - and I apologise if my line of "life goes on as normal here" hit a nerve. But it is going on as normal, just not from your perspective when you were here

[pfvspnf]

Only good thing is tea salad and even that is hard to find these days