Already present through its subsidiary Silk Air, Singapore Airlines will also flight its own aircraft to Yangon from this coming winter season.
SINGAPORE – Singapore Airlines will launch daily services to Yangon on 28 October 2012 to cater to rapidly growing demand for travel to Myanmar. Together with regional subsidiary SilkAir, the SIA Group will serve Yangon with 16 weekly flights.
SilkAir currently operates 16 weekly flights to Yangon with single-aisle Airbus A320-family aircraft. SIA will take over seven of those flights with larger 323-seat Boeing 777-200 widebody aircraft, increasing weekly seat capacity by 55%.
“Demand has been growing strongly for both business and leisure travel to Myanmar, and Singapore Airlines looks forward to serving the country for the first time,” said SIA Executive Vice President Commercial, Mr Mak Swee Wah, who is also Chairman of SilkAir.
“SIA and SilkAir are constantly looking at new market opportunities and the launch of SIA services enables us to quickly meet the growing demand for travel to this increasingly popular destination.”
Yangon is the largest city in Myanmar and it once served as the country’s capital. Today it serves as Myanmar’s economic centre, in addition to being a popular tourist destination.
From next November, total seats capacity will reach 131,934 per month compared to 105 784 in November 2011, an increase of 25% within one year.
The flights are subject to government approvals. Details of proposed flight numbers and flight schedules can be found in the table below:
Singapore Airlines flights
Flight number |
Days of Operation |
Departs |
Arrives |
SQ998 |
Daily |
SIN 0755hrs |
RGN 0920hrs |
SQ997 |
Daily |
RGN 1025hrs |
SIN 1445hrs |
SilkAir flights
Flight number |
Days of Operation |
Departs |
Arrives |
MI518 |
Daily |
SIN 1420hrs |
RGN 1545hrs |
MI520 |
Friday, Sunday |
SIN 2210hrs |
RGN 2330hrs |
MI517 |
Daily |
RGN 1640hrs |
SIN 2115hrs |
MI519 |
Monday, Saturday |
RGN 0025hrs |
SIN 0500hrs |
*All times local
Luc Citrinot a French national is a freelance journalist and consultant in tourism and air transport with over 20 years experience. Based in Paris and Bangkok, he works for various travel and air transport trade publications in Europe and Asia.