History
Mawlamyine (Moulmein) Airport was initially established in 1941. During World War II, it was a Royal Air Force field. It was used not only by the British but also by the Flying Tigers, an American volunteer pilot group then. On 20 January 1942, as a major air operation in Southeast Asia, the 62nd Sentai Heavy Bombers escorted by the 50th Sentai of Imperial Japanese Army Air Service attacked the airfield and its satellite at Mudon with a total of 65 planes. On 28 February 1942, Japanese General Hideyoshi Obata, Obata visited the airfield and it was reconstructed with 450 Japanese construction crews to be used as Air Force headquarters for attacking British airfield at Yangon International Airport, Mingaladon. After Burma's independence in 1948, Myanmar National Airlines, the Union of Burma Airways (UBA) was founded and started its domestic services to local airports including Mawlamyine (Moulmein) Airport. On 14 March 1949, a De Havilland Dove, De Havilland DH.104 Dove 1 of the Union of Burma Airways, registration XY-ABO, crashed in Gulf of Mottama (Martaban) en route from Yangon International Airport, Mingaladon Airport to Mawlamyine (Moulmein) Airport. Nine passengers and two crew (Captain P.H. Sparrow, pilot, and L.A. Stephens, radio officer) were lost. It was probably the first ever civilian plane crash in Burma's aviation history. In September 2013, Nok Air Mini started flights between the Thai border town Mae Sot and Mawlamyine. This was the first time the airport handled international flights after 1948. However, Nok Air Mini stopped its service due to the poor condition of the runway and facilities.Modernisation
The Mawlamyine Airport's runway is being upgraded in the 2018 budget year. A total of MMK 114 million will be spent to upgrade the runway.Airlines and destinations
External links
References
Airports in Myanmar Mawlamyine {{Myanmar-airport-stub