Airlines in Myanmar

[SLF1978]

This may be judged an inappropriate use of PPRuNe, and could disappear faster than you could say 'doors to manual', but I would appreciate your professional expertise should the moderators allow this:

My wife and I are travelling to Myanmar (as I discovered Burma is now called) in January and will take several internal flights: Yangon > Bagan > Thandwe > Yangon. There are a number of airlines flying these routes, including Air Mandalay, Air Bagan and Yangon Airways.

I will choose an airline on safety, not price. Is there a reliable way to judge whether or not each of these airlines is safe to fly with? Or, to put it another way, which - if any - would you fly with?

Many thanks indeed for any help.

[safelife]

Air Mandalay would be my choice, having piloted in Myanmar for months.

[S.o.S.]

SLF1978, your question is perfectly valid, as you will know from reading the small print of the Terms & Conditions form that you agreed to when you signed up.

Safety is of great concern in these forums, not least to SLF. So it's Doors to Automatic and let this thread fly ...

Oh, yes - Welcome to PPRuNe.

[communicates]

Thanks safelife - they looked like the obvious choice but I wasn't making that judgement with any professional expertise...

S.o.S - I never miss a good set of T&Cs - just like I always watch the safety video! Thanks for finding the right home for my question!

[S.o.S.]

Gosh. TWO new users on the same thread on the same day and sharing the same question?

However, I can tell you communicates, that even joking about not watching the video can irritate our Cabin Crew members and we all depend on them.

Welcome to PPRuNe ...

[BHX_SLF]

Having travelled on a couple of internal flights in Burma/Myanmar a couple of years ago, I ended up on Yangon Airways.

The local view shared when we were there, was that people try and avoid Air Bagan, purely for political reasons, as Air Bagan is owned/controlled by one of the "old school" of Burma, therefore lining the pockets of the "old" Burma and the other airlines represent the "new" Burma.

Purely coincidental, that Air Bagan did lose one of their aircraft at Heho airport 2 days before we arrived, having undershot the runway. The wreckage still there just short of the runway on our arrival, so we could see for ourselves !

Hope this helps.

[Justin Cyder-Belvoir]

Air Bagan

I was involved with setting up Air Bagan: fine airline.

Heho has some unique properties so don't let the accident worry you too much.