Burma's Air Bagan To Fly To Thailand

[george]

Burma's Air Bagan to fly to Thailand, China

YANGON: -- Burma's military government has agreed to allow privately owned Air Bagan to begin flying to neighbouring Thailand and China starting from October, an airline official said Monday.

"We have received clearance for direct flights to Bangkok and China starting in October. Well be the first private Burma airline allowed to fly to international destinations," Air Bagan's marketing director Pwint Mar Han told AFP.

The airline had not yet decided which city in China the new flight would serve.

Another official at the airline said Air Bagan hoped to win permission for a future flight to Siem Reap, the gateway to Cambodia's famed Angkor Wat temple complex.

"We are also planning for a direct flight to Siem Reap in Cambodia. But we don't have any confirmation yet," she said.

Air Bagan is one of two private airlines in Burma. It opened in November 2004, mainly to bring tourists to the ancient city of Bagan, which is home to thousands of world-famous 11th and 12th century Buddhist temples.

-- AFP 2006-06-12