The scramble to Siem Reap
As Cambodia’s busy tourism season approaches, domestic and regional airlines are scrambling to offer Siem Reap routes in a bid to capitalise on the growing number of visitors to the Angkor Wat gateway. …
In the past several months, players have entered the fray at a consistent rate. The latest, Korean carrier Air Busan, a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines, plans for scheduled daily flights between Busan, South Korea’s second-largest city, and Siem Reap, according to Vann Chanty, director of the Air Transport Department of Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation. …
Chanty said Chinese carrier Juneyao Airlines has also sent its application for a landing permit, targeting non-stop scheduled flights between Shanghai and Siem Reap. The private airline will be joined by Chinese flag carrier Air China, which envisions adding direct flights from Beijing as early as November. …
The list continues with Dragonair, a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of Cathay Pacific, which announced last month it will start direct routes between Hong Kong and Siem Reap on October 29, offering the seasonal service three times a week. …
The increase follows a rising number of tourists visiting the city, home to the 12th-century Angkor Wat ruin. According to Norinda Khek, a spokesman for Cambodia Airports, the company managing airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville, 1.5 million passengers landed in Siem Reap between January and July this year, a 22.5 per cent year-on-year increase. …
The regional airlines are joined by local chartered carrier Wat Phnom Airlines, which had its maiden flight from Siem Reap to Taipei last month. National carrier Cambodia Angkor Air announced earlier this year that it would take off between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap five times a day starting in July.
