BANGKOK, 18 February 2025: Myanmar Airways International (MAI) resumed its direct Mandalay-Chiang Mai on 10 February, a service suspended since the Covid pandemic in 2020.
MAI flies the route twice weekly on Monday and Friday using an ATR72 with 70 seats.
First reported by NP News based in Yangon, the Mandalay-Chiang Mai route is the first to be added to MAI’s international network in 2025 and the fourth route that the MAI will operate from its Mandalay International Airport hub.
Flight schedule
8M374 departs Mandalay at 1410 and arrives in Chiang Mai at 1600.
8M375 departs Chiang Mai at 1630 and arrives in Mandalay at 1720.
Meanwhile, the airline confirmed it would start a new service on 2 April, from Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital, to Danang, a port city in central Vietnam. Flights are scheduled twice weekly on Wednesday and Saturday. The airline will deploy an Embraer EM190 to serve the route.
Flight schedule
8M454 departs Yangon at 1630 and arrives in Danang at 1900.
8M455 departs Danang at 2000 and arrives in Yangon at 2130.
In addition to MAI’s daily Yangon-Kuala Lumpur trips, the airline will introduce a direct flight from Yangon to Penang, Malaysia, operating every Monday and Thursday, effective 10 April 2025. The airline will deploy an Embraer EM190 for the two-hour flight. The starting roundtrip fare is pegged at USD274.
Flight schedule
8M505 departs Yangon at 1445 and arrives in Penang at 1815.
8M506 departs Penang at 1915 and arrives in Yangon at 1945.
Penang Island is MAI’s second destination in Malaysia and is famed for its historical and cultural heritage, reflecting colonial heritage in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed George Town. Penang is famous for its street food, art and beaches.
I suspect it will be very difficult to generate sufficient demand to sustain operation since most Malaysian still consider Myanmar unsafe to travel now. Moreover, Malaysian citizens are still the only ones among all ASEAN countries require visa to visit Myanmar and many will not put up with the hassle. They can easily travel to any of all the other 8 ASEAN countries for holidays visa free and avoid the extra visa fee and unnecessary hassle. For example, 4.9 million or nearly 5 million Malaysians visited Thailand last year in 2024.
If Myanmar is sincere and keen to have Malaysian to visit to revive their severely damaged tourism by Covid and the military coup, they should implement visa free free travel for Malaysian immediately. Ask why it is not done, the argument is that Malaysia has rejected the reciprocal arrangement. But even China has now opened up visa free travel for many countries that do not grant visa free travel for Chinese citizens! So why can’t Myanmar do it?