Yangon Airport Travel to Get Top Korean Makeover: Southeast Asia

Dexter Tan gets a weekly reminder of
the challenges Myanmar faces in catching up with the world when
he lands at Yangon's international airport.

"The airport doesn't seem to be very business focused,"
with long immigration lines and only a few baggage carousels,
shops and restaurants, said Tan, 55, treasurer of the Malaysian
Myanmar Business Council. "There are no international standard
eateries like McDonald's."

That will change in coming years after Incheon
International Airport Corp. was awarded the $1.1 billion
contract to build a new international airfield last week. The
Korean company, owner of the Seoul airfield that has been rated
the world's best for the past eight years, will help quintuple
the city's passenger capacity by 2018.

The upgrade is part of President Thein Sein's efforts to
create jobs in one of Asia's poorest countries. The U.S. eased
sanctions last year and the European Union and Japan wrote off
loans owed by the nation, which McKinsey Global Institute
estimates needs to spend $320 billion on infrastructure by 2030
to lift economic growth to 8 percent. That has already brought
investments from Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and Unilever Plc.

"With scant investment in infrastructure over the past
many decades, Myanmar is in massive need of infrastructure
upgrades in almost every sector," said Daniel Gelfer, director
of Singapore-based political risk consultancy firm Vriens
Partners. "Even though they are the newest airports in the
country, the Mandalay and Yangon airports are in need of updates
in order to handle tremendous increases in tourist and business
visitors."

McDonald's Outlets

McDonald's Corp. hasn't set a firm date for development of
its outlets in Myanmar and "in the future we may take steps"
to open its locations in the country, the world's biggest
restaurant chain said on its website.

Incheon, ranked the world's best since 2005 by the Airports
Council International, and its partners were chosen as the
preferred bidders to build a new airport at Hanthawaddy, about
60 kilometers (37 miles) away from Yangon.

This facility will be able to handle 12 million passengers
annually when it opens for business in 2018. The city's existing
airport is also aiming to more than double its capacity to 5.5
million by 2016.

"There are difficulties expanding the existing Yangon
International Airport," said Daw New Ni Win Kyaw, an assistant
director at the Department of Civil Aviation, in an interview
Aug. 12. "The current airport is small and we plan to have both
airports operational."

1947 Terminal

Yangon's existing airport opened a new terminal in 2007 for
international travel, while a facility built in 1947 is used for
domestic flights. That includes Singapore Airlines Ltd. and
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.'s Dragonair unit.

The airfield at capital Naypidaw, Myanmar's biggest with a
capacity to handle 5 million passengers, is served by 18
international carriers.

AirAsia Bhd., the biggest budget airline among the members
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Asean, is also
planning to add flights to Myanmar.

"Myanmar is the next big thing within Asean," said Shukor Yusof, a Singapore-based aviation analyst at Standard Poor's.
"This is the last frontier."

Coke, Best Western

President Thein Sein signed a foreign investment bill in
November to woo overseas investors. Companies scouting
opportunities or striking development agreements include Visa
Inc., the biggest payments network, Unilever, and closely held
hotel chain Best Western International Inc.

Coca-Cola, the world's largest soda maker, opened a
bottling plant in June and pledged investment of $200 million in
Myanmar over the next five years after leaving the country about
six decades ago.

The nation is boosting economic, military and political
ties with Western nations after years of isolation that left its
64 million people among Asia's poorest. Its transition to
democracy last year after about five decades of military rule
prompted the U.S. to ease sanctions.

The economy may grow 6.75 percent this fiscal year, led by
natural gas sales and investment, the International Monetary
Fund said in a May report.

That growth will bring in more tourists and businessmen,
who will expect better amenities, like in Singapore's Changi
airport, says Tan. Changi has plenty of retail stores, duty-free
shops and eateries, he says.

"When you step into Singapore airport, you are spoilt for
choice," he says. "Yangon is the exact opposite of that, and
as a traveler from Singapore to Yangon for the first time you
have to manage your own expectations."

To contact the reporters on this story:
Kyunghee Park in Singapore at
kpark3@bloomberg.net;
Sanat Vallikappen in Singapore at
vallikappen@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Anand Krishnamoorthy at
anandk@bloomberg.net

Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/08/14/yangon-airport-travel-to-get-top-korean-makeover-southeast-asia/