Built for 20 million MPPA, Yangon International Airport Welcomed 5.92 Million Passengers to Round off 2017

05 Feb 2018

Appoints Mr José Angeja, IAP as new Chief Operating Officer
Tasked to maximize operational efficiency of YIA as a high-performance airport

Yangon International Airport (YIA), the largest and busiest airport in Myanmar and a key gateway into the country, welcomed 5.92 million passengers over the course of 2017.

For the 12-month period 1 Jan – 31 December	2016	2017	% Change
Passenger movements	5,454,188	5,916,597	8.48%
· Domestic	1,813,771	1,986,007	9.50%
· International	3,640,417	3,930,590	7.97%
Air traffic movements	70,307	78,076	11.05%
· Domestic	32,687	36,579	11.91%
· International	37,620	41,497	10.31%

This represents 8.48% growth over 5.45 million passengers in 2016. Of these, 66% or 3.93 million comprised international passengers and the other 34% or 1.99 million were domestic passengers. Overall air traffic movements increased by 11.05% in 2017 to 78,076, compared to 70,307 movements in the same period a year ago.

Moving forward, YIA targets a growth rate in line with Myanmar’s forecasted GDP growth of 7.2% for 2018 by way of World Bank’s estimates. Looking at growth trends across the 3 current international airports – YIA, Naypyitaw International Airport and Mandalay International Airport – YIA is well ahead of its handling capacity of 20 million passengers per annum to cater to future needs for the next decade at least.

Bringing strong international and regional expertise – new COO appointment

This year, YIA also welcomes Mr José Angeja, IAP, as its new chief operating officer (COO) as part of its effort towards professional management standards. In his new role, José is also tasked to look at organizational and management efficiencies to ensure YIA sets the standard as a high-performance airport. This entails an operational approach towards infrastructural excellence, organizational excellence and management excellence at the airport.

A veteran in airport operations, José brings with him extensive international and regional experience in civil aviation operations, management and aircraft accident investigation from other airports such as Airport of Brazil, São Paulo - Campinas and the Macau International Airport.

Having held a number of key senior roles within similar capacities spanning more than three decades, José has extensive experience dealing with ICAO and IATA regulations. In his role as COO at YIA, he will have oversight on all aerodrome operations, safety management, terminal services, engineering and construction, long-term master planning, and overall business development.

Mr Angeja said: “Myanmar is a dynamic, growing market for aviation services, and it is my pleasure to be here sharing best practices and offering my knowledge. Passenger levels at YIA are growing steadily as we can see from this past year’s traffic. On the longer-term horizon, we do expect growth levels to taper off and normalize over time.”

High performance possible even with single runway

Even with a single runway, Yangon International Airport has the capacity to process high passenger numbers. This is consistent with other single-runway airports in the world such as Geneva, Switzerland (2017: 17.4 million[1]), Fukuoka, Japan (2017: 22.0 million[2]), Xiamen, China (2016: 22.7 million[3]), Phuket, Thailand (2017: 16.2 million[4]), and Mumbai, India (2017: 45.2[5] million) – the busiest single-runway airport in the world.

Mr Angeja added: “There are many examples of single-runway airports out there which are handling more than double or triple of our current capacity. We believe that we have a lot of room to grow, as our airport is built to cater ahead to future growth.”

Currently serving 28 international airlines and 8 domestic airlines, YIA has attracted renowned full-service airlines such as Emirates Airlines, Malindo Air and Cathay Dragon in recent years. These airlines have opened new routes to Yangon over the last two years since Yangon Aerodrome Company Limited took over the operation of YIA.

“Moving forward, we will continue to work closely with our regulator DCA, our airline partners, as well as explore new opportunities to maximize the potential of the airport and its handling capabilities to ensure sustainable growth. As a key transport infrastructure, we recognize that the growth of our airport will not only have an indirect impact on the development of Yangon, but also the overall development of Myanmar,” concluded Mr Angeja.