Thai Airways and AirAsia will connect regular flight service to Siem Reap Angkor International Airport (SAI) in October, said Dy Rado, Deputy Governor of Siem Reap province.
Thai Airways will start the daily Bangkok-Siem Reap route starting October 27 while AirAsia will start its air service between Phuket and Siem Reap on October 29, Rado said during a tourism event held in the province on Thursday.
“This is a good sign for the aviation sector as well as the tourism sector in the province,” Rado said.
In the first eight months of 2024, Siem Reap received more than 650,000 international tourists, an increase of 31 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
The top visitors include Americans ranked first, followed by British and French tourists.
Located in Tayek commune in Sotr Nikum district, about 50 kilometres from Siem Reap city, SAI commenced operations in October last year.
As a 4E-level international airport that can accommodate long-haul flights from across the globe with a 3,600-meter runway and 38 berths, SAI can manage seven million passengers annually and is expected to increase its capacity to a staggering 12 million passengers a year from 2040.
Currently, there are ten airlines that are operating to and from the airport, he said, adding that the airport receives flights from six ASEAN countries and China.
SAI has reached a record high of some 888,000 in the first eight months of this year, the airport operator’s report showed.
In order to prepare Siem Reap as an attractive tourist province for tourists in 2024, the provincial administration strives to promote inter-sectoral cooperation in a spirit of responsibility to improve the quality of tourism services and the development of new tourism products.
“With the sign of tourist arrival surge to the province, tourism-related businesses have been gradually reopening to welcome tourists to visit Siem Reap,” he added.
(source: khmertimeskh)