YANGON- France’s new ATR aircraft arrived in Yangon International Airport on September 29th aiming to reinforce the Myanmar National Airlines’ (MNA) fleets, according to the sources.

The new aircraft flew from Toulouse, France on September 26th and landed in Greece, UAE and India and also spent three nights in those airports before flying to Yangon.

The ATR 72-600 XY-AML is the ninth aircraft of ATR 72-600 series used by the MNA and it will be added to its fleet to run domestic and overseas flights.

The state owned airline is planning to use the ATR 72-600 series of planes in the future.

 “We have ATR 72-600 and ATR 72-500 planes currently flying in our airlines. So our pilots are flying two kinds of planes. It will be convenience for them if they fly the only kind of planes. Maintenance will be easier too. So our airlines will be used the kind of ATR 72-600 planes in its fleet only,” said Chief Executive Officer Than Tun of the airline.

The airline signed an agreement with the France aircraft manufacture company to buy six new ATR 72-600 series aircrafts from it and the company provided to open a major maintenance facility, recognized by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), at Yangon International Airport.

The cost of large-scale maintenance, including 8-year checks, amounts to more than US$700,000 for a 2007 model ATR aircraft and over $400,000 for a 2010 model in Singapore.