Tweet
The final destination in my list of December travels is a less visited destination by Singaporeans, Mandalay in Myanmar. Surprisingly, even during the peak travel season, flights availability were still wide open. Looking through the schedules, I settled on Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) Economy Class up to Mandalay, and SilkAir Business Class back.
Myanmar National Airlines is definitely not a commonly flown and reviewed airline. Some background on the airline from Wiki:
Myanmar National Airlines, formerly Union of Burma Airways, Burma Airways, and Myanma Airways, is a state-owned airline and the flag carrier of Myanmar, based in Yangon. It operates scheduled services to all major domestic destinations and to regional destinations in Asia. Its main base is Yangon International Airport. Founded in 1948.
The airline was founded by the government after independence on 15 September 1948, as the Union of Burma Airways (UBA). It initially operated domestic services only, and international services were added in 1950. The name was changed to Burma Airways in December 1972, and to Myanma Airways on 1 April 1989 following the renaming of the country from Burma to Myanmar. International services of Myanma Airways have been made as joint venture airline, Myanmar Airways International (MAI). Myanmar National Airlines is the majority shareholder of Joint Venture Company MAI, set up in 1993.[3] In 2003, it was proposed to set up a Myanmar-based airline for chartered international passenger and cargo flights, which was planned to be called Air Myanmar. What would have been a joint-venture between Myanma Airways and private investors was abandoned in 2005. Myanmar National Airlines provides ground-handling services for Other airline's charter,schedule and non schedule flight.
In mid-2012, Myanma Airways ordered to lease two new Embraer 190AR from GE Civil Aviation Services Co.Ltd, that replaced its Fokker F-28 from November 2012. On February 11, 2014, at the Singapore Airshow, Myanma Airways signed a $960 million deal with GECAS for four Boeing 737-800s and six Boeing 737 MAX planes. The deal is the largest commercial sale by a U.S. company to Myanmar in decades and is the largest single aircraft order in the history of Myanmar's aviation industry.
In December 2014, Myanma Airways re-branded itself as Myanmar National Airlines.
Following the arrival of its first Boeing 737-800 in June 2015, Myanmar National Airlines announced the resumption of international services after a 22-year hiatus to Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. International services resumed with the inaugural flight to Singapore on 19 August 2015. Myanmar National Airlines then launched its second international service to Hong Kong on 4 December 2015 following the arrival of its second Boeing 737-800. Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) sets to begin its flights between Yangon and Bangkok starting from February 20, 2016 marking Thailand as its third international destination.
Singapore is MNA's first international destination after the rebranding and it now offers twice daily flights from Singapore to Yangon. Twice a week, the flight continues up to Mandalay on the same flight number, which is the flight I was booked on. The airlines currently operates a fleet of 4 new B737-800 on its international network.
MNA operates out of Terminal 3 at Changi and ground handling was performed by Dnata. Booking of tickets via its website was easy, but online check-in was not available. Hence, all passengers needed to do manual check-in, which was swift. Business Class was also offered, but not available for selection for Mandalay-bound pax. There was also a Premium Economy section onboard, with 6 rows of economy seats offering more seat pitch.
Boarding pass issued. The flight would be flying to Mandalay via Yangon. According to the check-in staff, Mandalay-bound pax would be seated towards the rear of the aircraft for ground handling purposes in Yangon, and it appeared most of the pax were Yangon-bound.
After a quick lunch at the T3 food court, we proceeded through immigration. Spot the aircraft right at the end of the terminal.
Departure gate was at A16. It was rather quiet at this time of the afternoon at T3.
Due to the location of the gate, it was impossible to get a clean shot of the aircraft.
28 December 2017
Myanmar National Airlines
UB 2
Singapore (SIN) - Yangon (RGN)
B737-800
XY-ALG
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H27M
We would be flying on MNA's newest B737-800 in its fleet. Boarding was called and boarding sequence was enforced strictly. Welcomed by the UB female crew dressed in Burmese-styled red tunic.
First impression of the aircraft cabin was very good, with 8 Business Class seats upfront and the rest of the cabin fitted in with green-coloured Economy seats. Interestingly, both Business and Economy seats are of the exact same model as used on SilkAir's B738s.
Economy seats
Christmas decorations on the wall.
Seat pitch is good (better than SilkAir) and recline is decent. There were no pillows available but blankets could be requested from the crew if required.
Myanmar National Airlines is definitely not a commonly flown and reviewed airline. Some background on the airline from Wiki:
Myanmar National Airlines, formerly Union of Burma Airways, Burma Airways, and Myanma Airways, is a state-owned airline and the flag carrier of Myanmar, based in Yangon. It operates scheduled services to all major domestic destinations and to regional destinations in Asia. Its main base is Yangon International Airport. Founded in 1948.
The airline was founded by the government after independence on 15 September 1948, as the Union of Burma Airways (UBA). It initially operated domestic services only, and international services were added in 1950. The name was changed to Burma Airways in December 1972, and to Myanma Airways on 1 April 1989 following the renaming of the country from Burma to Myanmar. International services of Myanma Airways have been made as joint venture airline, Myanmar Airways International (MAI). Myanmar National Airlines is the majority shareholder of Joint Venture Company MAI, set up in 1993.[3] In 2003, it was proposed to set up a Myanmar-based airline for chartered international passenger and cargo flights, which was planned to be called Air Myanmar. What would have been a joint-venture between Myanma Airways and private investors was abandoned in 2005. Myanmar National Airlines provides ground-handling services for Other airline's charter,schedule and non schedule flight.
In mid-2012, Myanma Airways ordered to lease two new Embraer 190AR from GE Civil Aviation Services Co.Ltd, that replaced its Fokker F-28 from November 2012. On February 11, 2014, at the Singapore Airshow, Myanma Airways signed a $960 million deal with GECAS for four Boeing 737-800s and six Boeing 737 MAX planes. The deal is the largest commercial sale by a U.S. company to Myanmar in decades and is the largest single aircraft order in the history of Myanmar's aviation industry.
In December 2014, Myanma Airways re-branded itself as Myanmar National Airlines.
Following the arrival of its first Boeing 737-800 in June 2015, Myanmar National Airlines announced the resumption of international services after a 22-year hiatus to Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok. International services resumed with the inaugural flight to Singapore on 19 August 2015. Myanmar National Airlines then launched its second international service to Hong Kong on 4 December 2015 following the arrival of its second Boeing 737-800. Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) sets to begin its flights between Yangon and Bangkok starting from February 20, 2016 marking Thailand as its third international destination.
Singapore is MNA's first international destination after the rebranding and it now offers twice daily flights from Singapore to Yangon. Twice a week, the flight continues up to Mandalay on the same flight number, which is the flight I was booked on. The airlines currently operates a fleet of 4 new B737-800 on its international network.
MNA operates out of Terminal 3 at Changi and ground handling was performed by Dnata. Booking of tickets via its website was easy, but online check-in was not available. Hence, all passengers needed to do manual check-in, which was swift. Business Class was also offered, but not available for selection for Mandalay-bound pax. There was also a Premium Economy section onboard, with 6 rows of economy seats offering more seat pitch.
Boarding pass issued. The flight would be flying to Mandalay via Yangon. According to the check-in staff, Mandalay-bound pax would be seated towards the rear of the aircraft for ground handling purposes in Yangon, and it appeared most of the pax were Yangon-bound.
After a quick lunch at the T3 food court, we proceeded through immigration. Spot the aircraft right at the end of the terminal.
Departure gate was at A16. It was rather quiet at this time of the afternoon at T3.
Due to the location of the gate, it was impossible to get a clean shot of the aircraft.
28 December 2017
Myanmar National Airlines
UB 2
Singapore (SIN) - Yangon (RGN)
B737-800
XY-ALG
Economy Class
Flight Time: 2H27M
We would be flying on MNA's newest B737-800 in its fleet. Boarding was called and boarding sequence was enforced strictly. Welcomed by the UB female crew dressed in Burmese-styled red tunic.
First impression of the aircraft cabin was very good, with 8 Business Class seats upfront and the rest of the cabin fitted in with green-coloured Economy seats. Interestingly, both Business and Economy seats are of the exact same model as used on SilkAir's B738s.
Economy seats
Christmas decorations on the wall.
Seat pitch is good (better than SilkAir) and recline is decent. There were no pillows available but blankets could be requested from the crew if required.
Comment