Cambodia Angkor Air Leases Airbus A320

KHMER TIMES
SOK CHAN

Tek Reth Samrach (right), Cambodia Angkor Air chairman, and Phang
Thim Fatt, deputy managing director of BOC Aviation Limited, at the
lease agreement signing ceremony for the two Airbus A320 aircraft. KT/Chor Sokunthea

National airline carrier Cambodia Angkor Air signed an agreement yesterday with BOC Aviation Limited, a subsidiary of the Bank of China, to lease two new Airbus A320 aircraft as the Kingdom gears itself to welcome more international tourists.

“Due to the increasing number of tourist arrivals year-on-year, Cambodia Angkor Air has to have more aircraft to serve the demand. Therefore, Cambodia Angkor Air has partnered with BOC Aviation to facilitate the lease of two new Airbus A320 aircraft,” Tek Reth Samrach, chairman of Cambodia Angkor Air, told reporters at the agreement signing ceremony.

“The aircraft will come from Europe with a lease period of 15 years, and we expect to take delivery of the two Airbus A320 by the end of the year,” said Mr. Samrach, without revealing the total cost of leasing the passenger aircraft.

He said Cambodia Angkor Air had to have strong insurers in order to guarantee that the lessor would make delivery of aircraft.

“We’re talking of hundreds of millions of dollars in terms of cost for the two Airbus A320. Therefore we need to assure BOC Aviation that we can take delivery of the planes.”

Mr. Samrach pointed out that Cambodia Angkor Air would add more new international destinations to its current flight routes.

“We have to relink from Phnom Penh to Bangkok and will add new routes from Phnom Penh to Hong Kong and Singapore. Also we plan a route from Siem Reap to Hanoi, Danang, Shanghai and Guangzhou,” he said.

“Cambodia Angkor Air is focusing on regional markets including China, Japan, South Korea, India, Hong Kong and the Asean region. The company is seeking new cooperation in terms of interline or codeshare in order to link its routes with long-haul routes of other airlines.”

Phang Thim Fatt, deputy managing director and chief financial officer for BOC Aviation said that this was the first time that his company leased aircraft to Cambodia Angkor Air, though BOC has entered into agreements to lease close to 230 passenger planes to more than 60 airline companies worldwide.

“Currently, we see Asia booming in air traffic growth and we are encouraged to also see it happening in Cambodia. These new Airbus A320 will provide a new travel experience to Cambodia Angkor Air’s customers and will boost the country’s tourism sector,” said Mr. Phang.

Mr. Samrach added that the brand new aircraft would reduce fuel consumption and maintenance costs.

“It is suitable for the airline’s future expansion to include long-haul flights to Japan and South Korea.”