Yangon Aerodrome Company (YACL), the airport management company of Yangon International Airport (YIA), announced that the main aviation gateway of Myanmar closed 2019 with a record high of 6.5 million passenger movements, lifted by new routes across Asia.

Air passenger movements in 2019 are the highest since YACL took over YIA operations in 2015, rising 7.9% compared to 6.03 million in 2018. International passenger movements in 2019 rose 7.9%, supported by new airlines and additional routes, mainly from the Chinese and Indian markets. December 2019 was the busiest month of the year, recording 685,910 passenger movements and 7,425 air traffic movements (ATM).

During the year, YIA welcomed 10 new international airlines and added seven new destinations. YACL has been actively targeting new markets to expand YIA’s international routes. The most recent additions are flydubai’s daily scheduled flights from Dubai, UAE, and IndiGo Airlines’ daily flights from Kolkata, India. Among YIA’s markets in 2019 (compared to 2018) China grew fastest, rising 36%. This was followed by Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Ho Chee Tong, chief executive officer of YACL said: “The Myanmar government’s proactive steps to raise tourism awareness internationally and the relaxation of visa requirements have boosted the growth of YIA’s passenger numbers.”