SINGAPORE, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Singapore became the second international destination for Myanmar's Air Bagan on Friday with the airline's launch of daily flights between the two countries.

The new service, offering 14 flights each week, begins amid an international outcry against the Myanmar junta's recent crackdown on dissent, and questions over international engagement with the regime.

The Air Bagan Airbus A310-200 landed about 30 minutes late on its inaugural flight from Yangon.

Tay Za, the airline's chairman, told a welcoming ceremony at Changi Airport that the Singapore service marks "a new phase" of Air Bagan's operation.

Singapore is only the second international destination for the carrier after service to Bangkok began in May, he said.

"I believe that our service will promote the relationship between the two countries, at the same time boost tourism with ASEAN nations," he said before a loud crack that sent a shower of gold confetti onto the audience.

Two other carriers, Singapore Airlines' regional unit SilkAir, and Jetstar Asia, already link Singapore and Yangon.

Lim Kim Choon, director general of the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS), said the Air Bagan service begins "at an opportune" time when growth in passenger traffic between the two countries is at its strongest.

Last year, 156,000 people travelled between the countries, 23.5 percent higher than the previous year, he said in a statement. In the first six months of this year, the growth continued as 92,000 passengers made the trip, he said.

Asked how much difficulty Air Bagan has had in securing international landing rights, Gopi Bala, the airline's senior marketing manager, told AFP: "It's been easy."

He said Kunming, China, is expected to become an Air Bagan destination by the end of this year.

According to Amnesty International, more than 150 people have been detained in Myanmar since August 19, when activists began protests against a staggering hike in fuel prices that left some people unable to afford even bus fare.

The most serious showdown occurred in Pakokku, about 500 kilometres (310 miles) north of the commercial capital Yangon.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks held a group of local and security officials hostage for several hours in Pakokku on Thursday, after troops violently broke up an anti-junta protest, residents said.

US president George W. Bush has called the junta's crackdown on the dissent in Myanmar "tyrannical" and called for the release of the prisoners.

Ibrahim Gambari, the UN pointman in efforts to promote national reconciliation in Myanmar, warned Wednesday that the crackdown made it "more difficult to maintain international support for engagement with Myanmar."

On Friday, Philippines Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said Southeast Asia's controversial policy to engage Myanmar, a pariah in the West due to its human rights record, was not working out.

Asked about the timing of the new Air Bagan service, as criticism of the regime mounts, Bala said, "I refuse to answer on that."

Photo: CAAS