Aviation sectors brings $128m to state’s coffers

An airport worker directs a plane in Phnom Penh International Airport. KT/Chor Sokunthea

The aviation sector generated more than $128 million in revenues from 2013 to 2017 that went straight to public coffers, according to a government report published Tuesday.

Last year alone, the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), the state agency in charge of civil aviation, saw revenues of $32.5 million.

The same report highlights that SSCA handled more than 31 million domestic and foreign passengers during the five-year period.

Moreover, from 2013 to 2017, Cambodia had nearly 40,500 domestic and 137,000 international flights.

There are seven local airlines in the Kingdom – Cambodia Angkor Air, Sky Angkor, Bassaka Air, JC International, Lanmei, Small Planet and Cambodia Bayon Airlines – which operate alongside 37 international airlines, according to the report.

Ho Vandy, secretary-general of the Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, told Khmer Times that the local aviation sector is booming.

He said some of the factors that have enabled this growth are “peace and stability” in the country, large amounts of Chinese investment and public-private partnerships in the tourism and aviation sectors.

“If the political situation remains stable, there are no natural disaster, and no economic crisis here or at an international level, I predict that we will continue to see the same level of growth in the local aviation sector, or perhaps even more,” Mr Vandy said.

From 1995 to 2017, the country’s three international airport received $350 million in the form of infrastructure investment. Phnom Penh’s international airport received $125 million, while the airports in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville received $125 and $100 million, respectively.

Khmer Times
Sok Chan