INTERVIEW 'Myanmar Airways International targets price-sensitive leisure travelers'
Hot air balloons float above Bagan, an ancient city and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in the Mandalay, Myanmar. From the ninth to 13th centuries, the city was the capital of the Pagan Kingdom, the first kingdom that unified the regions that would later constitute modern Myanmar. / Courtesy of Myanmar Airways International
By Kim Hyun-bin
Myanmar Airways International (MAI), which launched direct flights between Incheon and Yangon, Dec. 6, is confident its service will be successful in the local market despite strong local competitor Korean Air, which had previously monopolized the route.
The Myanmarese carrier now operates four weekly flights, departing from Incheon every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“Traffic between Myanmar and Korea has been growing year to year as a lot of Korean investors are coming to Myanmar, especially to the Korea industrial zone. Secondly, there was about a 12 percent increase in traffic coming from Korea into Myanmar from 2017 to 2018, the second-largest demand behind China,” MAI Deputy Chief of Operation Bo Thura said during an interview with The Korea Times at the Lotte Hotel Seoul, Dec. 5.
“If you look at the numbers, 74,000 travelers came from Korea travel to Myanmar.”
MAI DCO Bo Thura
MAI's biggest competitor in the market is Korean Air, which was the only airline to offer direct flights between the two countries, but Bo says it won't be difficult to find success in the market as the carrier is targeting price-sensitive customers.
“Our services, our price point is much more affordable than Korean Air's. Even at our normal rate, our fares are 10 to 15 percent cheaper than Korean Air at any point in time, and 13 to 14 percent cheaper even in the peak seasons, so we are quite confident of how we target,” he said.
The DCO said the company's targets are the leisure market and the labor segment.
“Our target is leisure, because we think Myanmar is still not commercialized. We want to provide another alternative destination in Southeast Asia for Korean travelers,” he said.
“You depart (Incheon) late at night, don't have to take any day off and still reach Yangon early in the morning at 6 a.m. We can offer domestic connections which Korean Air can't.”
Another strength of the airline comes from its sister carrier, Air KBZ, which connects 18 destinations within Myanmar, making it more convenient to transfer flights when taking MAI, he said.
“Fly with us to Yangon and connect to any of the 18 destinations domestically we fly to, and you will see the entire picture,” the DCO said.
“Myanmar has taken best of India to the left and China to the North, that is a real melting pot of culture.”
The carrier plans to bring in seven additional Airbus A320s to its fleet by 2021, and with the addition is seeking to launch flights to Busan where there are a large number of Myanmarese workers.
“We want to make efforts to launch flights from Busan. A lot of Myanmar workers work in Busan, like seamen and factory workers. Based on their potential availability, we will arrange flights for next year or 2021,” Bo said.
MAI is a full-service carrier, allowing customers to take baggage for free and providing inflight meals, but the DCO says the carrier should be considered a “hybrid airline” as they do not have inflight entertainment.
It also plans to test out the market for three to six months and take a few strategy initiatives including hiring Korean cabin crew and adopting Korean inflight meals such as bibimbap, according to the airline.
Despite the confidence, the first flight between Incheon and Yangon had a 55 percent load factor on its 123-seat A319, Dec. 6, but the airline plans to make adjustments to increase its payload.
“December will be an exploratory month, a trial and error month. We will test the market first and we want to introduce a fleet that can fly with a full payload,” Bo said.