Passenger traffic at Cambodian airports grew by 12% in the first 11 months of this year because of new air routes and new airlines being put into operation.
Figures from Cambodia Airports, which manages the country’s three international airports, show that from January to November, passengers amounted to 10.6 million people, the Khmer Times reported.
Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville airports saw the biggest traffic growth, while Siem Reap airport experienced a decline in traffic.
Phnom Penh airport handled 5.5 million passengers, a 12% increase, and Sihanoukville airport hit a record high with a 177% increase to 1.5 million passengers.
Siem Reap airport, on the other hand, saw passenger traffic fall 11%, to 3.5 million.
“For Phnom Penh airport, the growth is driven by new airlines and routes,” said Khek Norinda, communications and public relations director at Cambodia Airports, citing the carrier Citylink’s new route between Jakarta and Phnom Penh and also Chinese carriers.
“For Sihanoukville, new airlines and routes are the main engines of growth. In addition, domestic airlines switched their services from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville,” he said.
For Siem Reap, some airlines stopped flying there. For example, Malaysia Airlines and domestic carriers switched their flights to Sihanoukville, he said.
According to the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia received 5.2 million foreign tourists from January to October this year, up 9.7%. Of that number, 3.7 million passed through the airports, up 12% during the period, the report read.
Currently, Cambodia has five domestic airlines and 44 international airlines.