One of Myanmar’s major private domestic airlines, Air Kanbawza (Air KBZ), which is owned by a close ally of one of the generals’ most trusted business associates, has changed its name to “Mingalar” after 14 years of operation.
The new name was introduced and took effect on Jan. 6 this year, according to the airline’s website. Explaining the rebranding of the airline, which has been in operation for more than a decade, Mingalar Aviation Services Co., Ltd. said the move was part of its efforts at “continuous improvement.”
Air KBZ was founded by KBZ Group of Companies in 2010. The group also acquired 80 percent of formerly state-owned national airline Myanmar Airways International (MAI) under U Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government.
The KBZ Group of Companies was founded by U Aung Ko Win. The group comprises companies that dominate industries such as mining, banking, aviation, insurance, manufacturing, agriculture, real estate, trading, healthcare, tourism and hospitality.
U Aung Ko Win is a creditor of many Myanmar business owners and serves as a go-between for the generals and would-be junta cronies. He provides capital through his KBZ Bank to implement profitable projects in business deals involving himself, the generals and new cronies.
MAI and Air KBZ operate domestic routes and flights to 16 foreign destinations.
In late 2018, 24 Hour Group bought Air KBZ and MAI. Neither company provided details about the deal. The group was founded by U Aung Aung Zaw, one of the regime’s cronies and a close ally of KBZ’s U Aung Ko Win.
MAI and the Myanmar Air Force share aircraft, while junta leaders use an MAI-branded aircraft for international travel, including to Russia, where they purchase arms.
Following US sanctions against two state-owned banks—Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank and Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank—that play a crucial role in supplying US dollars for the regime, Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB) said it would close all of MAI’s bank accounts by Aug. 15, 2023. In September, MAI launched direct flights from Yangon and Mandalay to Russia’s Novosibirsk—the third-largest city in Russia and a major producer of nuclear energy and technology.
Advocacy group Justice for Myanmar has detailed extensive links between 24 Hour Group businesses and the junta. These include a large-scale limestone quarry and coal mines that have production-sharing contracts with state-owned enterprises, now under junta control, as well as a waterfront development on land seized from Rohingya in Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine State.
