ANA to Invest in Myanmar's Asian Wings Airways

Tokyo, Aug. 27 (Jiji Press)--ANA Holdings Inc. <9202> said Tuesday it will obtain an equity stake of 49 pct in Myanmar's Asian Wings Airways for 25 million dollars. ANA Holdings, the parent of All Nippon Airways, hopes to attract demand from Southeast Asian countries by using Myanmar as its new business base. The investment will be implemented by March 2014. ANA will be the first foreign carrier to invest in a Myanmarese airline, according to ANA Holdings. Currently, AWA only operates domestic flights, but is slated to launch international services in October. Using the funds from ANA Holdings, the Myanmarese airline will expand its fleet to 10 planes from the current three. From Sept. 30, ANA is set to increase the number of flights on its route linking Narita International Airport near Tokyo and Yangon, Myanmar, to seven a week from three at present. Also, it will introduce larger aircraft on the route. In line with the investment, ANA Holdings will help AWA mechanize its ticket-issuing system and procure new aircraft, and train its crew. In the year to March 2013, AWA posted 17.8 million dollars in revenue. END