Phnom Penh and Siem Reap get more flights but Sihanoukville remains in limbo

fter over a year flying, CAA continues to only fly between Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and Ho Chi Minh City. The airline is due to integrate in 2011 two new Airbus A321 and launch flights to China, Korea, and Japan. But Sihanoukville is still not on the airline’s radar, unless pressures mount up from the highest level of the Cambodian government. Maybe it would be the right time for the government to remember that it owns 51 percent of CAA's shares.PHNOM PENH (eTN) - Société Concessionnaire des Aéroports (SCA), Cambodia’s private airports operator, looks with satisfaction to the coming winter season. Traffic is recovering according to Nicolas Deviller, CEO of SCA. “Passenger traffic is growing again with a passenger increase of approximately 8 percent in Phom Penh and 26 percent in Siem Reap for the entire year 2010. Phnom Penh should be back to its level of 2008 with some 1.7 million passengers, while Siem Reap should reach again its traffic level of 2007 with some 1.5 million passengers,” explained Mr. Deviller during a press conference.

This winter, some 20 carriers regularly link Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports to the rest of the world. The winter timetable is seeing 16 additional frequencies per week added out of Phnom Penh, while Siem Reap benefits from 18 additional frequencies. Most of the additional frequencies come from Korea, Malaysia, and neighboring countries (Bangkok and Hanoi). On the domestic front, national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) will add a daily frequency between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, bringing frequencies to four daily returns.