YANGON, Dec 29: Qatar Air-ways, one of only 15 foreign airlines operating in and out of Myanmar, is suspending its four weekly flights to the military-ruled former Burma in January, a company official said on Saturday.

“Our last flight on this route will be on Jan 9,” a member of staff said, adding that the reasons for the route cancellation were “just commercial”.

However, one Yangon-based travel agent said the flights from Doha were nearly always full.

“We don’t think the true reason for their suspending is commercial viability. Seat occupancy on their flights is very good,” said the travel agent, who asked not to be named. “We think it could be due to the pressure from Western countries.”

Qatar Airways opened its Doha-Yangon-Doha route in December 2004.

Since a crackdown on pro-democracy protests in September, in which at least 31 people were killed, the United States and Europe have pushed for tighter international sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling military junta.

Besides tightening their own trade embargoes, analysts suspect Washington in particular is also bringing quiet pressure to bear on other smaller countries, such as Singapore, that do business with Myanmar.

Myanmar Airways International (MAI), was forced in October to drop its Yangon-Bangkok and Yangon-Kuala Lumpur routes.—Reuters