Chin State’s Chief Minister Salai Lian Luai officially announced that the Surbung airport, the first in Myanmar’s poorest state, is slated to open to national flights by June this year.

5 years in the making, the airport is built on an old WWII airstrip in the Surbung mountain range at an altitude of 1,830 meters above sea level. The airport will only be able to accommodate ATR-72 planes on its 1,830 meter-long, 30 meters-wide runway.

Currently only accessible by road, the mountainous north-west state hopes that the opening of the centrally-located airport will help boost its tourism and business prospects.