2018 was not an easy year for Myanmar in terms of tourist arrivals. While numbers of tourists from other Asian countries continued growing last year, the country saw a significant decrease of travellers from European countries and Northern America due to the ongoing Rakhine crisis.
Yet since October, 2018, when the government granted visa-free entry to certain nations and introduced visa on arrival for others, the international tourists arrivals resumed a slow growth. The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism has reported that the final numbers of foreign tourists who visited Myanmar in 2018 are expected to be slightly under four million, more or less flat cpmpared to 2017, with Thailand, China, India and Malaysia being the main source countries for Myanmar.
In 2019, YIA is going to increase international air connectivity between Myanmar and other countries. Some of the newest additions to the routes offered from Yangon include Yangon–Frankfurt flight operated by the Genrmal airline Lufthansa, and negotiations are under way with Turkish Aieways, from Turkey, and Qantas Airways, from Australia.
Yangon International Airport Greets 6 Millionth Passenger
News in Asia
Yangon International Airport (YIA) has beaten the 2017's record of 5.9 million passengers with its 6 millionth guest greeted on December, 28, 2018.