Singapore group wins US$1.4b contract to build Yangon airport

A consortium led by Singapore's Yongnam Holdings won a US$1.4 billion contract to build the airport in Myanmar's Yangon, after a deal with Incheon International Airport Corp was cancelled.

Yongnam will develop the Hanthawaddy International Airport, Myanmar's civil aviation agency told reporters. The group, which also includes Changi Airport Planners and Engineers and Japan's JGC Corp, was invited to rebid for the project after negotiations between the government and South Korea's Incheon broke down earlier this year.

Yongnam shares surged in Singapore the most in more than six months in intraday trading after the contract was announced. Upgrading the airport is part of the government's effort to create jobs in one of Asia's poorest countries. The US eased sanctions on Myanmar in 2012 and the European Union and Japan wrote off loans owed by the nation, following which Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Unilever announced investments.

Hanthawaddy airport is about 80km from Yangon. The current Yangon International Airport is 15km from the city. The facility will be operational in December 2019 and will be able to handle up to 12 million passengers a year compared with the current airfield's capacity of 2.7 million, the civil aviation agency said.