What does Myanmar's new airport mean for travellers?

A new international airport in Myanmar, the south-east Asian nation facing condemnation over the ongoing persecution of the Rohingya minority group, is to open by 2020, with construction plans to be finalised by next month, the country’s department of civil aviation has said.

Hanthawaddy International, located in the Bago region around 50 miles outside Yangon, will become the country's fourth international hub, and will have an initial capacity of 12 million passengers a year, a number that is eventually projected to rise to 30 million.

The ￡1.1billion project has been undertaken by new developers since 2014, including Changi Airport Planners and Engineers, the group behind Singapore’s main aviation hub (named the world’s best for five consecutive years in the latest World Airport Awards) and Japan’s JGC Corporation.

Is this airport big news for travellers?

Officials hope the new airport will become a new major international gateway for Myanmar, with all international airlines reportedly to be based there instead of Yangon International Airport upon its completion.

“Yangon’s existing airport will probably move further from the city eventually, though as it’s on a site beside the new commuter circle railway line, which is being modernised, I suspect the airport site will be slated for other uses, such as residential, when this is completed,” predicts Gill Charlton, Telegraph Travel’s Myanmar expert.

The country is also reportedly looking to build a bridge from downtown Yangon to the new airport and hopes to draw more tourists given Bago’s location on the planned Asian Highway, a United Nations (UN) transport initiative featuring a network of more than 141,000 kilometres of roads crossing 32 countries in Europe and Asia.  

Will it ever be finished?

Work on the airport first started back in 2001 but was put on hold for several years before it was resurrected in 2012, backed by several international joint venture partners including the Incheon International Airport Corporation and other South Korean firms, who have since pulled out of it.  

“It’s one of those projects that has been stop-start for years as there really isn’t the demand because economic development in Myanmar is still very slow,” notes Charlton.

In numbers | Myanmar's new airport – Hanthawaddy International

What is there to see and do in Bago?

Bago is an administrative region of the country, bordered by the Mandalay region in the north, the Yangon region in the south, the Gulf of Martaban in the east and the Rakhine State (which has been the centre of the current conflict, and where visitors are being advised against all but essential travel) in the west.   

Notable points of interest to tourists are limited to a handful of historic pagodas and temples including the Kyaikpun Buddha, Shwemawdaw Pagoda, Shwethalyaung Buddha and Kanbawzathadi Palace.

“Currently visitors can fly into Mandalay as well as Yangon, and Bago isn’t really convenient for any of the main tourist areas,” said Charlton.

“But tourism in the country appears to have plateaued now the first rush to see the country has abated. Most tourists seem to go just the once and see the main sights, still preferring to do their beach and trekking in neighbouring Thailand,” she adds.  

Is the country safe?

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advise against all but essential travel to several parts of the country, including Rakhine State, the Paletwa township in the southern Chin State, due to active armed conflict, and the Kachin State, due to the continued risk of armed conflict. 

“Political tension and unrest could happen at short notice. You should avoid all demonstrations and large gatherings,” the FCO warns.

“The situation in ethnic states where armed groups operate is volatile. Take particular care in the border areas with Thailand, Laos or China,” it adds.  

However, holidays do continue to the country.

At a glance | Myanmar’s Rohingya people

Should travellers be boycotting the country?

The violence in Myanmar has forced some 600,000 Rohingya refugees to flee the country. The ongoing persecution - which the UN has branded a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” - poses questions of both safety and ethics for travellers.

One of the most pressing concerns of anyone travelling to Myanmar during the current refugee crisis is whether their money is in any way funding the military operations.

“I think tourists should continue to travel to the country. It’s important to keep the fledgling tourist industry alive as so many small poor communities rely on it. Staying away isn’t going to change the government’s treatment of the Rohingya community as tourism from Britain and other Western countries is a very small part of their revenue,” said Charlton.

The big debate | Should politics influence your choice of holiday destination?