Malaysia's passenger flight denied landing at Myanmar's Yangon Airport

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – A passenger flight from Malaysia was denied permission to land in Myanmar’s Yangon city on Tuesday morning, and later it flew to Thailand, a media report claimed.

According to Khit Thit Media, Malaysia’s passenger flight MH740 flew from Kuala Lumpur to Yangon but was “denied permission to disembark at Yangon Airport”.

The Malaysian flight hovered over the Yangon Airport for some time and thereafter left for Bangkok.

In a separate report, it added that Yangon Airport was shut down after a Myanmar military-owned Y8 plane broke down on the runway while landing.

The Y8 plane is said to have suffered “engine failure.”

Interestingly, the denial of permission for Malaysian flight to land in Yangon comes after the junta regime in Myanmar expressed displeasure with Malaysia suggesting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to engage with the Burmese government in exile, known as National Unity Government Myanmar (NUG).

The NUG was formed after the military launched a coup last year and overthrew the government of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and jailed its members.