During his speech at Cambodia Angkor Air’s inauguration ceremony the country’s Prime Minister Hun Sen described the Kingdom’s new national airline as a bridge for carrying visiting tourists to Cambodia. “If Cambodia can increase air travel, then it has the potential to boost tourism more than other countries in the region,” Hun Sen said at Phnom Penh International Airport.

Deputy Prime Minister Sok An said on Monday that Cambodia Angkor Air, a joint venture between the Cambodian government and state-owned Vietnam Airlines, is to start operating on 28 July 09 from Phnom Penh International Airport to Siem Reap, and later to Sihanoukville airport. Going on to say that at some future point the airline will fly to Bangkok and to destinations in Vietnam and Laos.

Ang Kem Eang, the president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, welcomed Cambodia Angkor Air’s inaugural flights, but said it will continue to be difficult to boost tourist numbers if the government does not push the airline to fly further than Vietnam and Thailand.

Edited from the Phnom Penh Post (28-7-09)

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