MYANMAR’S newest domestic airline, Air Bagan, has acquired a new aircraft that it will use to fly routes that were launched in the first week of January.

The airline expanded its schedule at the beginning of 2005 to include year-round flights to Myitkyina and Putao on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and to Myeik and Dawei on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The ATR 42 aircraft, which can carry 46 passengers, arrived at Yangon International Airport on February 23, adding to Air Bagan’s existing fleet of three aircraft: a 108-seat Fokker 100, a 70-seat ATR 72 and another ATR 42.

The airline’s assistant manager of sales and marketing, Daw Pwint Mar Han, said the company decided to add the routes to promote less frequently visited areas of the country.

“These places are not normal tourist destinations like Mandalay and Bagan,” she said.

“In the past, travel agencies could not promote these areas because there were no regular airline flights to them, so we hope the new routes will help the development of the whole tourism industry,” she said.

The new routes have been welcomed by the passengers, said Daw Pwint Mar Han.

“The flights are full most of the time,” she said.

Air Bagan also has regular flights to Yangon, Nyaung U, Mandalay, Heho, Thandwe, Pathein, Kengtong and Tachileik. It also arranges charter flights to Monywa and Ka-le.