Surge in airport passenger traffic

KHMER TIMES
MAY KUNMAKARA

Passenger traffic in Cambodia’s airports continue to climb. KT/Mai Vireak

Passenger traffic at the kingdom’s three international airports soared by 8.5 percent last year compared with 2015, official data from Cambodia Airports, the company authorized to manage the airports, showed yesterday.

According to the data, Phnom Penh International Airport maintained its double-digit growth at 10 percent, receiving some 3.39 million passengers last year.

Sihanoukville International Airport experienced a massive rise in passenger traffic with a 66 percent increase over 2015, breaking the 150,000 passenger mark for the first time.

Growth at Siem Reap International Airport, although still modest, was 5.5 percent with 3.47 million passengers – the slowest rate of growth seen in the past four years.

Khek Norinda, communications and marketing director at Cambodia Airports, noticed an increase in the number of Chinese tourists last year along with local outbound tourists.

“Substantial arrival of Chinese visitors was one of the highlights of 2016 and we had the airport capacity to cater to those arrivals,” he said.

Sinn Chansereyvutha, spokesman for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said recently he also noticed a rise in passengers last year, especially an increase in the number of locals traveling abroad.

“Last year was a good one for the SSCA. In October 2016, the frequency of local flights increased by 22 percent compared with the same period in 2015,” he said.

“Also international flights went up by nine percent in the third quarter of 2016, compared with the same period the previous year.

“In terms of domestic travel, close to 500,000 Cambodians last year took local flights and this was a 13 percent increase compared with 2015.”

With the rise in Chinese tourists to the kingdom, Mr. Chansereyvutha has also seen an increase in the number of airlines in response to the demand, with 10 Chinese airlines now operating direct flights to Cambodia.

“This year, we could see three more Chinese airlines flying direct to the kingdom. Of course, this is good. It will help the government realize its dream of two million Chinese tourists by 2020,” he added.

Cambodia Airports’ Mr. Norinda added that although the airports can handle the year-on-year increase in passenger arrivals, the company still plans to invest more to further expand capacity.

“With new terminals at Phnom Penh International Airport and Siem Reap International Airport and the doubling of their capacities to 10 million passengers per year, we completed a key milestone for those platforms,” he said.

“We launched last December the extension of the terminal at Sihanoukville International Airport and the upcoming lengthening of its runway.

The overhaul program for the three international airports will continue through 2040 with investment amounting to more than $2 billion.”

At the same time, Mr. Norinda also noticed a substantial increase in cargo transportation via air in recent years.

“Cargo activity, which is essentially handled at Phnom Penh airport, had a solid year with growth amounting to 25.5 percent,” he said.

He remained optimistic that the growth in passenger traffic would continue along with the development of the country.

“We are in the process of fine-tuning our 2017 projections. We are confident that the airports will be able to sustain their growth momentum.”