Rangoon airport closed due to signal failure

by Mizzima News

Sunday, 04 May 2008 17:32

Chiang Mai: The Rangoon international airport has been closed due to signal failure after power supply was disrupted in the city, according to officials. The airport is presently using emergency electricity after electric poles which transmit electricity to the airport were uprooted  in the cyclone on Saturday. The officials said that they will have to wait for the signals to be restored for flights to land and take off. "The entire airport is now running with the support of emergency lights. The flights cannot land or take off due to failure of the signals. The concerned officials were supposed to come to the airport to check out but they have not come yet. We may be able to tell you this afternoon about what the  situation will be. We are waiting. No flights have been allowed to land," said an airport employee who did not want to be identified. Passengers  of domestic and international flights  are waiting inside the airport. The domestic flights scheduled to fly from Rangoon have been cancelled since last Friday. However, due to power cuts, Rangoon residents have been unable to watch television or listen to the radio. Those who listen to battery-operated radios complained that the government was not letting out much information, let alone the complete picture of what is happening. There are expectations that domestic flights will be able to resume tomorrow and preparations are being made by the airlines. However, speaking to Mizzima, all the airlines such as Air Mandalay, Yangon Airway, Air Pagan and Myanmar Airway warned in one voice that all the schedule for tomorrow can still be cancelled, depending on the situation. The airlines that are scheduled to fly from Thailand to Burma have been temporarily rescheduled to today afternoon and even the rescheduled flights are not sure to take off. There are only very few buses plying on the streets in some parts of Rangoon due to shortage of fuel. The bus fares have doubled. The prices of petrol and diesel in the black market have increased by 20 percent. All the ferries  from Rangoon harbour have been stopped because the bridges in the harbour have  been severely damaged. < Prev   Next >