NAYPYIDAW: The military and the Civil Aviation Department have set some ground rules during their recent meeting conducted to resolve the issue of air traffic volume at the Yangon International airport.
Key officials from the respective organisations met to discuss military and civil aviation cooperation in the nation’s airspace during a two-day meeting last month, according to The Myanmar Times.
Civil Aviation Department director U Soe Paing said the meeting was inevitable due to the increasing number of flights going up against restricted areas as well as limitation of airspace.
“Regarding the matter, we discussed airspace cooperation, or flexible use of airspace.”
The airport and the country’s main military air base share facilities.
The air force has eight fighter aircraft and commissioned two helicopters on Dec 15.
Myanmar Drone Constructors and Flyers Club chairman U Win Naing said that civilian aircraft sometimes had to give way to military aircraft, especially during landing. This is due to the fact that fighter jets are not built to stay aloft for long periods of time.
“Military jets have priority for landing over civil aircraft,” he said.
“Landing civil airplanes in an emergency was one of the subjects discussed with the military.”
Last year, international airlines, mainly those from China, expanded their flights to Myanmar.
Over 600 aircraft pass through Myanmar’s airspace every day.