Business operations have begun at Cambodia’s latest and largest airport, designed to function an upgraded gateway to the nation’s main vacationer attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complicated within the northwestern province of Siem Reap
BySOPHENG CHEANG Related Press
October 16, 2023, 10:19 AM
FILE -On this Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, picture, vacationers line up for stepping up Angkor Wat temple outdoors Siem Reap, Cambodia. Business operations have begum at Cambodia’s latest and largest airport, designed to function an upgraded gateway to the nation’s main vacationer attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complicated within the northwestern province of Siem Reap. (AP Photograph/Heng Sinith, File)
The Related Press
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Business operations started Monday at Cambodia’s latest and largest airport, designed to function an upgraded gateway to the nation’s main vacationer attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complicated within the northwestern province of Siem Reap.
A Bangkok Airways flight from Thailand was the primary to land, with 16 further flights scheduled for the primary day of operations on the Siem Reap-Angkor Worldwide Airport.
The airport, which was constructed at a price of about $1.1 billion on 700 hectares (1,730 acres) of land about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of Angkor Wat, boasts a 3,600-meter (11,810-foot) lengthy runway. Building started in 2020 to switch the previous airport, about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the temple web site, which is being retired partly due to concern that vibrations from frequent flights had been damaging the temples’ foundations.
The brand new airport can deal with 7 million passengers a 12 months, with plans to enhance it to deal with 12 million passengers yearly from 2040. It was constructed underneath a 55-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) program between Cambodia and China.
In line with the Ministry of Tourism, Cambodia acquired some 3.5 million worldwide vacationers within the first eight months of 2023, whereas for the entire of 2019 — the final 12 months earlier than the coronavirus pandemic — it acquired some 6.6 million overseas guests. Tourism is taken into account one of many most important pillars supporting Cambodia’s economic system.
Deputy Prime Minister Vongsey Vissoth, who headed the ceremony marking the beginning of operations, mentioned the brand new airport will probably be formally inaugurated on Nov. 16 by Prime Minister Hun Manet and prime Chinese language officers.
One other Chinese language-funded airport is being constructed at a price of $1.5 billion to serve the capital Phnom Penh. The brand new Phnom Penh worldwide airport, formally often called the Techo Worldwide Airport, is about on 2,600 hectares (6,425 acres) and scheduled for completion in 2024.
