Flights planned from Beijing to Siem Reap, Phnom Penh
Chinese flag carrier Air China is expected to launch the first non-stop flights from Beijing to Cambodia as early as November this year, officials said yesterday. …
Director of the Air Transport Department of Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, Vann Chanty, said that officials from both Cambodia and China had a meeting in Beijing in May to discuss establishing the new routes.
“They informed us that Air China will start the direct flights from Beijing to Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. But, so far, we have not received any official application to us yet,” he said. …
China Southern Airlines operates 10 flights per week from Phnom Penh to the mainland province of Guangzhou. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines serves flights from Shanghai to Phnom Penh and to Siem Reap.
Prices hover in the $600 range. But normally, Chanty said, direct flights mean cheaper flights. …
Based on regulations, he said the application process for a Cambodian Air Operator Certificate (a licence to fly and land here) takes at least three months.
According to a CAAC spokesperson who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media, two of Air China’s Boeing B737-800s were in the line-up to take off once a day to both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. …
