A worker signals to a pilot near airplanes at Yangon International airport in Yangon, Myanmar, on Oct. 18, 2013.
Reuters
Two Airbus jets were involved in a ground accident this week at Yangon airport that left both planes damaged and revealed how Myanmar's limited airport infrastructure is struggling to cope with a surge in air travel.
The nose of an Airbus A320 jet from Golden Myanmar Airlines was dented after it ran into the rear fuselage of an Airbus A319 from Myanmar Airways International on Monday. No one was reported injured in the accident.
The Golden Myanmar jet was being towed from one place to another when the incident occurred, said Win Ko, the general manager of Myanmar's Department of Civil Aviation.
Airbus said it has sent a specialist to assess the damage to the two aircraft and is waiting for a detailed report. Necessary repairs will be carried out in Yangon based on the damage assessment, an Airbus spokesman said in Singapore.
Myanmar's aviation market is witnessing rapid growth as the country, controlled for years by a military junta, opens up to the global economy.
Myanmar currently has eight national carriers that operate less than 50 aircraft. Small, turboprop planes comprise the backbone of the nation's fleet, with just over a dozen jets in use. However, several Asian airlines and airport operators have identified growth opportunities in Myanmar and are planning investments.
Yangon's airport terminal has only four gates, and the adjacent apron, which is used for bus boarding, is very tight, leaving no space for additional aircraft during overnight hours.
A terminal project is under way to expand capacity from 2.7 million to 5.3 million passengers per year, CAPA – the Centre of Aviation said in a report last November, which said Yangon's terminal was operating above its designed capacity. But the parking space problem will remain, it added, since the military, which controls large parts of the airport, appears reluctant to give up land to build new aprons.
In August 2013, Myanmar's transport ministry selected a consortium led by South Korea's Incheon International Airport Corp. as the preferred bidder for the tender to build a new airport in Hanthawaddy, outside Yangon.
The government later invited a consortium comprising Singapore's Changi Airport Group, Yongnam Holdings Ltd. and Japan's JGC Corp. to start negotiations to build and operate the airport, Yongnam said in a disclosure filed to the Singapore Exchange last month.
The government hasn't said who is currently charged with building the airport, which is not slated to open until 2018.
In the meantime, analysts fear that training and infrastructure shortfalls could emerge as potential hurdles to the growth of aviation in Myanmar – as they have in many other parts of Asia that are witnessing rapid growth in air travel.
– Myo Myo contributed reporting from Yangon
http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/accident-at-yangon-airport-gives-airbus-jet-a-bruising/
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