Myanmar's main airport is expected to exceed passenger capacity this year, officials said Monday, as an influx of visitors to the once-isolated nation prompts plans for a new international flight hub.
Arrivals at Yangon International Airport are expected to surge to around 3 million in 2012, a 22 percent increase on last year that puts it above its 2.7 million threshold, according to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA).
"We need a new airport because the increasing traffic at the current airport... is quite difficult to handle," said Nwe Ni Win Kyaw, DCA assistant director.
The planned Hanthawaddy airport will be on a site nine times bigger than the current facility and located about 80 kilometers away from downtown Yangon, the country's main commercial center. Work is expected to start in June 2013, with the site set to become operational in 2016.
Veiled from the world for decades, the Southeast Asian nation has seen an influx of tourists and business travelers in recent months, attracted by a swathe of changes under a new reformist regime.
Total arrivals in Yangon surged to 1.53 million in the first half of 2012.