The airlines are pretty much same-same. I don't know that the ones listed are significantly more tied to the government or to the generals than those that are not.

All of the airlines fly planes that are 20+ years old, because they have not been able to buy new planes due to the international sanctions. That said, Air Mandalay's planes have the best-looking interiors, Air Yangon has the worst. None of this means anything for safety. Given the fact that the airlines necessarily operate outside of the international air community's regulations, they have done ok. There have been two accidents in the last two years, in one two or three people were killed (Air Bagan) in the other there were no deaths (Air KZB). While that makes some people nervous, air travel is still safer than ground transport.

When we flew Air KBZ in December, 2 of 4 of our planes were brand spanking new. Mind you, none of that made me feel any safer.

In a transparent society it would be possible to pinpoint who owns what.
Until then it is a nearly impossible task to avoid either groups.
We left this topic at home and accepted the imperfection of our destination.

However not everything is hopeless.
As a councious tourist you can do a lot to help the average people in Myanmar to benefit from your visit.

We enjoyed Air Mandalay throughout our trip in 2011.
The planes were probably second hand, and maintenance maybe not top notch.
But the flights were smooth and the statistics were on our side...
I suppose one hour of exposure to airtravel there is safer than ground transportation.

Hey, Filmwill, were the Air KZB planes Chinese-made? I had heard that a couple of airlines had purchased new Chinese-made planes.

Nope, they were ATR-72s. I heard they acquired them through European financing.

Thanks, I'd heard from someone on Thorntree that the EU was beginning to sell to Burma - you have confirmed it. Thanks!

Found this website where can search for crash test results by country: http://aviation-safety.net/index.php

Air Bagan and Air KBZ both had crashes this past year (Air KBZ crash was an ATR).

Visiting the airline websites, I found the most detailed information about safety for Air Mandalay: "Our pilots are trained at ATR facilities and undergo re-currency training every six months.

Air Mandalay’s Aircraft Maintenance Engineers are trained at both ATR and Pratt & Whitney facilities to ensure the ATR aircraft operated by Air Mandalay are always well maintained...

Air Mandalay's modern fleet is currently comprised of two ATR-72-212s and one ATR 42-320, which are both built by Aerospatiale of France and Alenia of Italy and powered by Canadian-built Pratt & Whitney engines.

Aircraft are maintained to the European JAR 145 Standard at our maintenance facility in Yangon, which has European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) part 145 approval.

All aircraft in Air Mandalay's fleet and the maintenance facility are inspected once a year by the Direction General de I'Aviation Civile (DGAC) of France."

Air Bagan website only says "(1) Fokker 100 ,(2) ATR 72,(2) ATR 42 turbo-prop aircraft."

Golden uses Airbus A320 aircraft and says "GMA engineering is currently approved by Myanmar DCA and will continue to strive for international recognition. With EASA 145 requirements in mind during the set up process, preventive maintenance concept and well supported by EASA 145 approved maintenance organization and well established spares supplier combined with proper cost control and effective cost management we are able to bring our cost down with compromising safety and airworthiness."

Air KBZ uses three ATR 72-500 aircraft.

Asian Wings and Yangon Airways just have photographs of their planes.

I think the summary is that no one carrier in Burma is safer than the other.

I agree, filmwill.

I did like Air Mandalay better than the other airlines, both because the planes interiors are attractive and they employ men to help with your luggage. I don't want to sound like you should worry, but Air Mandalay's planes are from the mid-1990s, and having them inspected annually by the French Aviation Agency is meaningless.

The blurb from their website means they are more aware of people's concerns about the domestic airlines and try to allay people's fears. That isn't a bad thing, but it doesn't make them safer.

Because of the economic sanctions, Burma has necessarily operated outside the international air safety network. At least some of the airlines would very much like to join the international aviation community. I consulted with a man who is in the air safety business who was invited to a meeting in Yangon with the airlines in Nov 2011. When I asked him how the meeting went afterwards, he asked if I had flown the domestic airlines. I said yes, and he replied, "You are braver than I am."

Again, I flew 3 domestic flights in 2009, 5 in 2011, and I fill fly on the domestic airlines agin when I return.