Work on new Myanmar airport to begin in 2014
Construction work for Myanmar’s new Hantharwady International Airport north of Yangon will start in early 2014, according to local media reports.
A consortium led by Korean’s Incheon Airport has been awarded the tender to build the Hantharwady International Airport and are currently discussing the details of the contract.
It is expected to be completed by 2018 and will have an initial capacity of 12 million.
Yangon International Airport, currently the country’s main entry point, handles 20 million passengers a year and will be upgraded to receive another 6 million. Major extensions, however, are restricted due to a surrounding military airbase and residential areas.
“The Yangon Airport is located too close to residential wards. Also the designated area of the airport is 1,000 acres but there are restricted lands like the military airbase so we estimate that the airport can only be expanded to handle 6 million passengers. We have hired Japanese experts to do the estimation,” said Tin Naing Tun, director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation was quoted as saying.
