Air Bagan grounds services

YANGON  Air Bagan has suspended flights claiming it will resume operations this October at the start of the tourist season.
Myanmar Times reported the airline suspended all flights, 16 August, due to maintenance check requirements and a company restructuring effort.
“Air Bagan is currently planning to add more aircraft in time for the upcoming in October,” the media report claimed.
In the meantime, Air Bagan’s codeshare flights operated by Asian Wings Airways remain operational as there is no input from Air Bagan other than in sales and ground support.
inside no 3For its own system, Air Bagan continues to sell tickets as usual for flights starting in October.
The airline was operating just two ATR-72 aircraft, although one aircraft sustained damaged when it skidded off of the runway at Yangon International Airport on the evening of 24 July, the report said.

Air Bagan started operations in 2004, and states in its publicity that it is 100% Myanmar-owned.
The airline faced difficulties leasing aircraft due to US economic sanctions, but sanctions were lifted in 2013.
Competition is tough in the domestic airline market and during the long rainy season, May to the end of September, tourist traffic to the country drops substantially.
It attempted to serve 19 destinations in Myanmar and even operate a charter flight to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand using just two aircraft which became increasingly difficult after the July runway incident.

sourced:ttrweekly.com