Myanmar > Yangon

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March 2011

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Yangon Airport RGN

Airside, main facade with new international terminal to the right, open since May 2007, just 15km north of downtown Yangon.

The new international terminal wing, with four aerobridges.

On the other side, the old terminal, now solely used for domestic flights. A bit decrepit, baggage is manually carried to and from planes on the ramp.

Landside, as one approaches the international terminal from Yangon.

At the entrance gate, slight uphill drive.

Check-in area, spartan but nice.

But one final donation before we are let go.

After check-in go up escalators or staircases for immigration and departure to find this huge impressive mural at the landing. It depicts the Karaweik Royal Barge at Kandawgyi Lake in central Yangon. Top left, Shwe Dagon can be seen. In real-life the barge is a replica of the one used at the Royal Palace’s moat in Mandalay.

Gracefully painted.

Beautifully rendered.

Just past immigration counters (which is a quick process, thanks to two officers per station, comprising mainly polite, smiling, young ladies), the concourse has a mix of normal duty free shops and a mini-bazaar.

A T-shirt at a shop reminds me of what Myanmar is all about.

From departure level, one can view concourse on lower level for arriving passengers to clear immigration and to collect baggage. Glass wall to the left allows visitors to sight relatives as soon as they arrive. Nice touch.

Also from departure level, one can observe arriving and departing passengers below.

Of course, a bit of plane-spotting too.

The only cafe, serving local and foreign dishes. There’s a bald young female monk enjoying her coffee — I think with normal hair and attire she’s good-looking, but I digress …

I just have to stop for a final bowl of mohinga, said to be Myanmar’s national dish. It’s rice vermicelli immersed in a sweetish, creamy, spicy fish broth. Just dump all the garnishings into the bowl, and it’s heavenly.

Past the cafe, another mini-bazaar. Prices are pretty good so any last minute souvenir-hunting can be done here.

A quick visit to the spotless loo, and I swear I thought I saw my name!

This is the best spot to while your time, monitor the flights while watching planes … and other people.

On schedule we are.

Finally down the escalator/staircase to the lounge before boarding the plane. Nice pleasant airport, this Yangon International. Love it.

THE END

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Here’s a short video of our Asian Wings flight from Mandalay (MDY) to Yangon (RGN) — plane is ATR72-500, reg. XY-AIS, operating as Flight AW982, 0825-1015 on Sunday 27/03/2011. Asian Wings is a 2-mth-old domestic airline in Myanmar, operating two ATR72-500: XY-AIS, XY-AIU

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