The Mandalay International Airport project was first conceived by the Burmese military government in the mid 1990s as a way to increase overall levels of foreign investment and tourism in Myanmar. With Yangon boasting the only other international airport for the whole country, the new Mandalay airport was regarded as crucial in achieving a planned 10% annual passenger growth. The hope was for Mandalay to become a hub for flights to other major Asian cities, in particular Beijing, Hanoi, Bangkok, Kolkata and Dhaka. Construction of the airport began in 1996, and the airport was officially opened in September 2000 at a cost of US$150 million. The project was financed through a long-term loan from the Thai ExIm Bank. On 16 November 2014, a consortium of Mitsubishi Group and an affiliate from Japan Airlines signed a concession agreement with the Myanmar government to operate the airport for 30 years. The joint firm undertook the operation, rehabilitation and maintenance of airport facilities, including terminal buildings and the airport's sole runway, excluding air traffic control, with operations having begun around March 2015. The agreement's main focus is to generate further expansion of domestic and international flights to Mandalay and to increase passenger traffic through the airport.
Airlines and destinations
Some SilkAir flights to Mandalay stop in Yangon. Despite this, the airline does not have the right to transfer passengers solely from Yangon to Mandalay.But now all SilkAir flights all change to MI523 524.
Airport facilities
Opened on 17 September 2000, the terminal building can handle 1,000 passenger arrivals and 1,000 passenger departures per hour. The capacity of the airport is estimated to be 3 million passengers per annum, with expansion capacity to more than 15 million. The site occupies a total area of 10,123 hectares and is located in central Myanmar about 35 kilometers south of Mandalay near the town of Tada-U. The journey from the airport to the city center of Mandalay takes approximately an hour by car. The concrete runway at Mandalay Airport is 4267 meters long and 61 meters wide, and long enough for any size of commercial aircraft to land. The car park accommodates 700 vehicles. The terminal is fitted with air conditioning, fire protection and emergency power generating systems. It is also equipped with six passenger lifts, one freight lift, three escalators and a baggage handling system. Three out of the six passenger boarding bridges can handle modern Boeing 747-8I aircraft. There is sufficient space for ten aircraft to anchor, and at a rate of 8 minutes per plane, aircraft of any size and make can touch down or take off to any destination abroad. MAGS provides both passenger and cargo aircraft ground services. Systems incorporated into the airport include VHF and HF SSB transmitters and receivers, a voice communication control system, an automatic terminal information system, and an aeronautical fixed telecommunications network. The air traffic control tower is equipped with a variety of radar and navigation systems.
All international airlines based in Mandalay are able to transport cargo/freight to any destination across the globe using connections at each of the airlines' way points. Cargo warehouse handling is operated by MK Hercules Co., Ltd, a joint venture between MK Co., Ltd in Hiroshima, Japan and Hercules Logistics Co., Ltd, in Myanmar. Mandalay International Airport is expanding rapidly and is expected to become an important cargo hub in Central and Upper Myanmar.
Airport operations and maintenance are handled by a joint venture of Mitsubishi Corporation, JALUX Inc., and SPA Project Management Ltd., which won a bid in 2013 to upgrade and operate the airport for 30 years. The previous operator was Myanmar's Ministry of Transport. In August 2013, the vendor technical team started the inspection of the airport to develop an airport Master Plan that included airport services and cargo-handling areas as well as anticipating future needs such as extending the airport’s buildings.
Incident
On 12 May 2019, Myanmar National Airlinesflight 103, carrying 82 passengers and 7 crew members, departed from Yangon International Airport and was approaching to Mandalay International Airport when the pilot was unable to extend the front landing gear. The aircraft landed as an emergency landing without the landing gear nose. No injuries were sustained in this accident.
