about us corporate identity - air mandalay · for the pagoda festival. the site resembled a...

6 | Air Mandalay - The Golden Flight

About Us Corporate IdentityAir Mandalay Limited is a joint venture company that was incorporated on 6th October 1994 to operate as Myanmar’s first joint venture airline and support the country’s tourism industry. The airline, based in Yangon, has since established itself as a carrier of high standards with a wide domestic network and one regional link, to Chiang Mai in northern Thailand. It operates to all of Myanmar’s main tourist destinations and commercial hubs. The airline also offers air charter services to destinations both within the country and regionally.

Due to the growth of tourism and business investment in Myanmar, air transportation has become an important contributor to both the country’s economic growth and its infrastructure development.

The country is looking to position itself as a major tourism destination capable of handling an increasing number of foreign visitors and the airline industry will play a vital role in achieving this.

Air Mandalay’s logo depicts the mythological royal Hintha bird, which symbolises loyalty, respect for traditional values, stability, good luck and prosperity. The colours in our logo are also significant. Yellow represents the numerous golden pagodas found throughout Myanmar, which is often called the Golden Land. Maroon signifies the colour of our commitment, to provide safe, reliable and comfortable flights for our passengers.

7Air Mandalay - The Golden Flight |

Mingalarbar!

Our FleetAir Mandalay’s modern fleet is currently comprised of one ATR-72-212 and one ATR 42-320, which are both built by Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy and powered by Canadian-built Pratt & Whitney engines.

Aircraft are maintained to the European JAR 145 Standard at our maintenance facility in Yangon.

All aircraft in Air Mandalay’s fleet and the maintenance facility are inspected once a year by the Director General de Aviation Civile (DGAC) of France.

Our CrewIn selecting and training our multilingual cabin crew, we aim to provide high levels of service consistent with Myanmar’s gentle traditions. Our pilots are trained at ATR facilities and undergo recurrency training every six months. Engineers are trained at both ATR and Pratt & Whitney facilities to ensure the ATR aircraft operated by Air Mandalay are always well maintained.

The Golden Flight

Air Mandalay’s Aircraft Maintenance

Organisation has European Aviation Safety

Agency (EASA) Part 145 approval.



IndawgyiMyanmar’s forgotten lake:

Words and pictures by Thomas Kean

THE train pulls into the station, and the touts circle immediately. “Hopin,

Indawgyi! Hopin, Indawgi!” they yell, as bleary-eyed passengers fumble around in

the dark for their luggage. From the upper bunk of my sleeper carriage, I ponder this

development. We are on our way to Indawgyi Lake but I’d been told to get off at Hopin

station, not Mohnyin. After 10 minutes of indecision, the train slowly pulls away from

the platform, the touts’ voices fading into the night.

We soon discover we’re on the one scheduled service, that doesn’t stop in Hopin.

Four hours later, we sit on the platform in Mogaung, having overshot Hopin by more

than two hours, and ponder our situation as the sleepy Kachin State town slowly

comes to life.



Almost a day earlier we’d set

off from Mandalay, heading first

south through outlying suburbs

before crossing the Ayeyarwady

river over the British-built Inwa

bridge. Turning north again

in the blazing March heat,

we passed through sunburnt

Sagaing Division, where you

could peer from the window

for an hour and not spot a

single person. It’s a desolate

landscape, one that would have

resembled the harsh outback in

my native Australia if it weren’t

for the rough outlines of dried-

out paddy fields rather than

plains of wheat or bush scrub.

Occasionally, we came to

small towns whose existence

seem to revolve around their

proximity to these two parallel

steel tracks, and even before

we stopped moving sellers of

all varieties would be walking

through the train’s corridors.

And then night came, plunging

us into darkness and leaving

little option but to sleep.

Our objective was Indawgyi Lake,

the largest body of fresh water

in Myanmar and a place famed

for its birdlife, pristine waters

and a lakeside pagoda, known as

Shwe Myitzu. At 24 kilometres

long and 13 kilometres wide,

it’s only slightly larger than Inle

Lake but certainly on the road

less travelled. I’d been told that

on the Tabaung full moon – now

just a day away – a huge pagoda

festival that draws hundreds of

thousands of Buddhists from

across the country, would reach

its climax at a lakeside pagoda.

In Mogaung, we did manage to

find a vehicle to take us to the

lake. The highway – I use the

term loosely – was little more

than a cracked dirt road, and our

truck, with perhaps 20 people

cowering in the back, had seen

much better days. The dust was

overwhelming, invading every

surface. Perhaps a thousand

times I swore I would never

again forsake the comforts of

aeroplanes and hired taxis. But,

finally, after arriving in Hopin

and then crossing a mountain

range in the early afternoon and

descending for about an hour,

with a steady stream of traffic

heading in both directions along

the mountain road, we sighted

the calm waters of Indawgyi

Lake.

Destination



My colleague and I stood up at

the front, like captains on the

prow of a ship, as our faltering

pickup pulled into the festival

site.

We were greeted first by

the sight of thousands of

motorbikes parked beside the

road. Still several kilometres

f rom the lakeshore, we

proceeded past the many

temporary buildings set up

for the pagoda festival. The

site resembled a medium-

sized town, with restaurants,

guesthouses, public phone

centres, thousands of small

shops – even a hair salon.

Finally we sighted the focal

point of the festival: Shwe

Myitzu Pagoda, the most

sacred Buddhist site in Kachin

State. The pagoda is set on a

platform in the lake about 500

metres from the shore and is

reached by a concrete walkway,

which was now swarming with

pilgrims slowly making their

way out to the 15-metre (50-

foot) high golden stupa.

For more than half the year

– June or July through to

February – this walkway is

under water and impassable,

making the pagoda only

reachable by boat. However,

in the weeks of hot weather

leading up to the festival,

which is held in the seven

days before the Tabaung full

moon, the concrete walkway

“appears” as the lake’s water

level drops.

Attendance at this year’s

festival – estimated at 150,000

– is significantly down because

of the economic situation,

says pagoda trustee U Aye

Kyaing. The upshot is there

are less people looking for

accommodation, which is an

issue every year.

“We still didn’t have quite

enough accommodation for

pilgrims. Some just spent the

night walking around because

they didn’t have anywhere to

stay. But it wasn’t as bad as

last year, when we had people

sleeping on the road, almost up

to the walkway to the pagoda,”

he tells me.

Shwe Mytizu Pagoda was

founded by a monk, U Thawbita,

during the reign of King Mindon

(1853-78). According to legend,

Shwe Myitzu Pagoda is set on a platform in

the lake about 500 metres from the shore and

is reached by a concrete walkway, which was

now swarming with pilgrims slowly making

their way out to the 15-metre (50-foot) high

golden stupa.


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