Myanmar - Germany to help build new Rangoon airport

Germany will provide technical and financial assistance to Burma’s new international airport project at Hantharwaddy in Bago region, Weekly Eleven News said on Monday.

Two German companies Obermeyar Planen + Beraten GmbH and Gnip International, have applied for pre-qualification for the construction of the Hantharwaddy International Airport, which is set to start by 2013, said the report.

The proposed airport will cover 3,645 hectares and will be the fourth of its kind in Burma after Yangon, Mandalay and Naypyitaw.

Germany will also make investments in construction and maintenance of sea ports in Burma, the report said.

Germany is the second largest donor to Burma after Japan with Burma still owing it an estimated 700 million euro in unpaid debt, according to German officials.

Earlier, Mizzima reported that as businessmen and tourists are lining up to visit Burma, old Yangon International Airport is showing its 50-plus years.

A new, modern airport will be built at Bago, 50 miles from Rangoon, on the site of a Japanese-built airport from World War II, according to state-run media. Construction would be completed in 2016, said an official.

The Ministry of Transport will work with local and foreign investors for the development of Hanthawady International Airport, and to upgrade and modernize other domestic airports, the Air Transport directorate said in an announcement.

Under the proposal, the new airport would cover 9,000 acres (3,645 hectares), an area nine times the size of Yangon International Airport, said Tin Naing Tun, the head of the Civil Aviation Department.

In 1994, construction of a new airport was started on that site, but work stopped in 2003. However, 80 per cent of the earthwork has already been completed, said reports.

Rangoon’s current airport can handle 2.7 million passengers a year, although only 1.45 million passed through in 2011, according to the Transport Ministry.

Burma currently has international airports in the administrative capital, Naypyitaw, Mandalay, Rangoon and Nyaung Oo.

Rangoon will reach its full capacity in terms of handling flights and passengers by the end of this year," said an official.

Fourteen international airlines fly into Rangoon, but only 17 planes can park at the airport at the same time, according to officials.

Naypyitaw’s international airport was inaugurated in December 2011. Located 16 kilometers south of Naypyitaw, it can handle up to 10 million passengers a year, officials said.

Mizzima News

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