<div><p>Myanmar authorities are building a seaside airport in the southwest region laid waste by a cyclone five months ago, a local weekly paper reported Wednesday.</p><p>They hope to boost tourism at Ngwesaung beach, in the country's Irrawaddy delta near the Bay of Bengal, 7Day said.</p><p>"The hotel authorities in Ngwesaung beach said an airport with an 8,000-feet (2,400-metre) long runway is under construction now at the beach," the paper said.</p><p>Ngwesaung beach, opened in 2000, is 240 kilometres (150 miles) from the main city Yangon, in the middle of the area left devastated by Cyclone Nargis, which struck May 2-3 and left 138,000 people dead or missing.</p><p>The beach attracts foreign tourists looking for budget deals according to one tour operator.</p><p>"Spanish and Italian tourists are more interested in Ngwesaung beach as the hotel rates there are lower than at Ngapali beach," a tour company operation manager told AFP, referring to a beach in Rakhine state already accessible by air and speaking on condition of anonymity.</p><p>"But recently the road has been very bad since the Nargis cyclone and because of the rainy season," she said.</p><p>Ngwesaung beach has 20 hotels providing 800 guest rooms according to official statistics.</p><p>Construction of the airport began in the third week of September, the report said.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=34052923&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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