Cambodia receives 3.53 million air passengers in 7 months of 2024, up 20 pct

PHNOM PENH, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) — Cambodia recorded 3.53 million air travelers during the first seven months of 2024, up 20 percent compared to the same period last year, said a State Secretariat of Civil Aviation’s report on Wednesday.
The report said international and domestic airlines had operated 33,439 flights to the kingdom’s three international airports during the January-July period this year, an increase of 13 percent year-on-year.
It added that the Southeast Asian country also saw a 44-percent rise in air cargo volume to 42,204 tonnes during the first seven months of this year.
State Secretariat of Civil Aviation’s Undersecretary of State and Spokesperson Sinn Chanserey Vutha is confident that the Chinese-invested Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI), which was put into official use in November 2023, will help attract more international airlines and passengers to Cambodia.
“We hope the airport will attract new international airlines to operate direct flights to Siem Reap province, the home of the UNESCO-listed Angkor Archaeological Park,” he told Xinhua.
Chanserey Vutha said that with a 3,600-meter runway, the SAI is a 4E-level international airport that can handle long-distance flights from across the globe. ■