Air ticket prices on the Sittwe–Yangon and Kyaukphyu–Yangon routes have surged sharply in 2026, rising by nearly 300,000 MMK compared to last year and placing a heavy financial burden on residents of Arakan (Rakhine) State who rely on air travel, according to local sources.

Tickets purchased at airline offices now cost 550,000 MMK for one-way flights from Sittwe, the state capital, to Yangon, while return fares exceed 700,000 MMK. In 2025, the same routes were priced at 350,000 MMK and 450,000 MMK, respectively.

Fares have climbed steadily since November 2025. Residents of Sittwe said current prices have risen above 600,000 MMK for both directions, exceeding officially assigned rates.

“I think the prices are rising because so many people are traveling from Sittwe to Yangon, and security checks at the airport have become much stricter than before,” a woman from Sittwe said.

On the Kyaukphyu–Yangon route, round-trip tickets now stand at around 600,000 MMK when purchased at airline offices, while prices obtained outside official channels can reach as high as 1 million MMK.

“Here in Kyaukphyu, we haven’t been able to buy plane tickets for nearly a year. I think it’s because more people are trying to get to Yangon as the fighting moves closer to the town. Some locals have taken a ferry operated by a Chinese company on Maday Island to reach Yangon, but it only allows residents of Maday Island to travel,” a Kyaukphyu resident told DMG.

Airfares on the Kyaukphyu–Yangon route have been rising since the end of last year, after remaining at just over 500,000 MMK for most of 2025.

Since mid-2024, many residents of Sittwe Township have fled areas controlled by the Arakan Army (AA) via land and sea, while others have fled to mainland Myanmar by air. The junta has imposed strict blockades on all land and sea routes in Arakan State, leaving air travel as the only option.

Fighting between the junta and the AA is still raging near Sittwe City and Kyaukphyu Town.