Review of Myanmar Airways International flight from Bangkok to Yangon in Economy

Intro

Hello everyone, and I guess, welcome back to… myself?

After seven years of radio silence, I’ve decided it’s time to rejoin the Flight-Report family. Maybe it’s guilt for silently stalking your reviews for years. Maybe it’s peer pressure from a fellow reporter friend. Maybe it’s because I finally flew on an airline so random it hadn’t been reviewed here in ages. Or maybe it’s because this flight kicked off an epic journey.

Honestly, it’s all of the above. So buckle up, lower your expectations slightly, and let’s get into it. Enjoy Myanmar International Airways from BKK to Yangon!

Check-in

I arrived at the airport about 2 hours before departure using Bolt (Grab prices have surged immensely in the last couple of months and Bolt was on average half the price) and quickly found the check in counters of MIA.

Web check in on MIA works but somehow never issues a boarding pass - even on domestic flights. So I had to head to the check-in counters, not only to get by BP but probably also to check-in my heavy suitcase. MIA offers a very generous 30kg in economy and what I liked about MIA is that additional services are super cheap!

There was a queue for economy but nothing dramatic and with most pax being from Myanmar, the queue was moving fast for economy. For business class the line looked like a luggage-themed protest. Some passengers had 10–15 bags each, and you could feel the collective rage building. But nothing to deter my mood as I was about to fly a quite exotic airline!

From past reviews, mainly on YouTube, I learned that business class upgrades were sold at great discounts (maybe 60-70 USD) at the airport - which I would have been ready to pay - but the agent quoted something along the lines of 285 USD which was even more expensive had I bought the ticket in business class to start with.

I thought I would survive the 1 hour ish flight in economy in my pre-booked emergency exit window seat and moved along after showing my evisa and return ticket.

BKK

Oh BKK, what used to be one of my favorite airports, a real bro, is becoming slowly a place I do not enjoy.


#1 - they killed all smoking areas inside, so the last cigarette had to be smoked outside, on the left (or right) edge of the check-in hall in something I call a smoker's aquarium. I understand that smoking is bad but com-on, some flights at BKK take 10+hours and how can a nicotine addict be expected not to smoke before a flight.

#2 - no more exit passport stamps for foreigners unless who somehow manage to get in the queue for non biometric passports

#3 - the optimization of pax flows means that yes your pockets need to be empty at security but the items like phone, wallet, cigarettes, etc. should also not be in the tray. There was nobody behind me so I insisted on not putting all those things in my bag and then the security agent put all of my loose items in a plastic bag :D.

#4 - airline lounges do not accept priority pass anymore :(. I have status on Star Alliance, Oneworld and Skyteam, so flying an airline where I do not get lounge access is pretty rare for me and today was one of those days but I was not going to use my Priority Pass on some Miracle Lounge so I just walked around trying to buy something but: no Malboro cigarettes at BKK and also no real clothing. So I just ended up buying a bottle of french red and one of german white wine to bring to Myanmar because who knows how much it was going to cost there.

Let’s just say BKK and I are going through a rough patch.

Boarding

I approached our boarding gate at the time indicated on our boarding pass as boarding time but there was no movement at all. So I had some time to people watch and notice about 3 other white, yes I am white, folks in the boarding area among the many Burmese people with their bright red passports. 2 of the other white people were (probably) joining a guided tour through Myanmar (I might have seen that trip online and later saw those folks in town) and the other white person was a diplomat. All this started to prepare me for an epic journey in a country where tourists have not really been since Covid.

Boarding started a bit late, but nothing dramatic and I took my seat on the beautiful MIA plane and out of the window saw something some might call a prison with wings, perhaps more of a chicken cage. I have never taken that plane and oh lord I hope that this day will also not come.

FYI, this is the infamous Airbus A330 of Cebu Pacific with 436 or 459 seats in its dense all-economy configuration flies also from Manila to Dubai. 9h15, no free meal in the basic fare, no seat-mounted entertainment system, no bells and whistles.

Flight & Seat

Being 1m80 means that on Asian carriers I always need some extra legroom, on MIA I chose the exit row which felt good!

Seats were comfortable, if I remember this right, this was an ex-Air Berlin plane that served a French carrier, hence some of the french signs. One thing that caught my eye was the seat numbers were also shown on the panels/windows and not just the overhead bins as we know it.

Food

WOW. on a roughly 1 hours flight I was not only served a snack box that contained a very edible cheese-croissant, a meh chocolate cake and a water, the crew came by with drinks! Take that any American airline which even in "First" class cannot manage this level of sophistication and flights that are even longer than that.

I salute the crew for executing this service so well, they were not stress at all and kept being very respectful and friendly.


The seat pocket also included some interesting stuff: some duty free catalogues also selling MIA memorabilia (but no cigarettes) and also an inflight magazine showing MIA very interesting network, spanning from Novosibirsk to Dubai to

After a total uneventful flight time it was time to land in RGN!

Arrival in Yangon

After a smooth 1h18 flight (incl. 20min taxiing in BKK), we touched down in Yangon. No queue at immigration, luggage out fast, and within minutes I was greeted by a smiling friend. Myanmar adventure officially started.