Mitsubishi : JALUX and Mitsubishi Corporation to Operate Mandalay International Airport in Myanmar

JALUX Inc. (JALUX), Mitsubishi Corporation (MC), and Myanmar's SPA affiliated group-company Yoma Development Group Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yoma Strategic Holdings Ltd. (YOMA), have signed a concession agreement with Myanmar's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) for the concession to operate Mandalay International Airport for 30 years. Operations are scheduled to commence around March of 2015, based on the concession agreement concluded with DCA.

The three companies have established a special purpose company, MC-Jalux Airport Services Co., Ltd. (MJAS) in Myanmar. JALUX and MC each holds 45.5% of MJAS shares, while YOMA holds the remaining 9%. MJAS will undertake the operation, rehabilitation and maintenance of airport facilities, including terminal buildings and runway (excluding air traffic control). The project makes history as the first in which Japanese companies are involved in one hundred percent private equity airport operations abroad.

JALUX has over 50 years of experience operating airport retail businesses (spanning some 27 airport facilities) as well as in the management, maintenance of airport facilities in Japan (as of October 2014). JALUX's experience also includes the operation of international airport terminals abroad through Wattay International Airport in Vientiane, Laos, which it has been operating jointly with a government corporation since 1999.

MC will apply the wealth of experience gained in the construction and operation of airport facilities and other types of infrastructure development to the operation of Mandalay International Airport while YOMA will provide the project with real estate development expertise and established local expertise being a leading Myanmar corporation.

Air travel is one of the fastest methods of transportation in Myanmar, and Mandalay International Airport is a major hub, connecting eleven domestic and four international destinations. Since 2010, domestic passenger traffic through Mandalay has been increasing by 20% per annum, reaching a 60% annual growth in the case of international flights. Mandalay, which has the capacity for 3,000,000 passengers a year, only serviced some 750,000 in 2013, 190,000 of those being domestic and 560,000 international. The aim of the new venture is therefore to generate further expansion of domestic and international flights to Mandalay, and consequently the increase of passenger traffic at the airport.

JALUX and MC aim to contribute to the development of Myanmar's economy through the operation of Mandalay International Airport, while at the same time expanding the airport development business, ranging from investment to construction and operation, in response to growing demand for enhanced airport infrastructure, particularly in emerging countries in Asia.

1. Mandalay International Airport

(1) Location     : Myanmar / Around 40km south of the Mandalay city center

(2) Passenger   : Around 750,000 (International: 190,000 / Domestic: 560,000)

(3) Characteristic: Main hub for domestic and international air traffic in Myanmer

2. MJAS

3. JALUX

4. Mitsubishi Corporation

5. YOMA