By Feng Yingqiu
YANGON, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's new Hanthawaddy International Airport project, being implemented as a national project in the country's central Bago region, some 76.8 km north-east of Yangon, is in progress.
Upon completion, the airport will represent the fourth and largest of its kind in Myanmar after Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw's and is expected to become a major gateway for international airlines to use and operate their businesses.
Fencing along the airport project has now been 65 percent completed after negotiating with land owners to pave way for the construction, a project engineer of the Department of Civil Aviation of Myanmar said, expecting it will be finalized by March, the end of current financial year 2017-18.
Meanwhile, the Bago regional government will also work out a compensation plan for squatters living in the project area to move out.
By 2020 when the new Hanthawaddy international airport is put in service, all international airlines are set to be moved there from the current Yangon International Airport.
Tendered in 2012, the project was won by a consortium of Yongnam and Changi Airport Planners and Engineering (CAPE) from Singapore and Japan's JGC Corporation in 2014 for the design, construction and management of the airport on the basis of the public-private partnership.
The airport, which is being implemented on more than 3,645 hectares of land, will help bolster the flow of business and leisure travelers as the country witnesses growth in trade and tourist industries.
The development of the airport will increase commercial and industrial activities around Bago Region and beyond and raise the local residents' standard of living through new job creation over time in phases.
Once operational, it is projected to handle up to 12 million passengers a year and it will become a major international gateway into Myanmar and a regional aviation hub.
The airport is expected to draw more foreign direct flights to Myanmar and increase tourist arrivals as Bago region lies on ASEAN highway.
In addition to the main project, Myanmar's Department of Civil Aviation is also inviting tender from home and abroad for building over bridge highway to link from downtown Yangon to the airport.
Myanmar has also been carrying out a plan of privatization of all domestic airport management businesses to promote the civil aviation industry.
Besides the three existing international airports, there are also 30 regional airports in Myanmar.
Domestic private airlines in operation in Myanmar comes to eight, while foreign airlines that fly Myanmar remain as 24, according to figures so far available.
