The China-funded Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport officially began full operations Thursday, amid mixed feelings in Cambodia about the project and China’s growing influence.
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The facility is more than triple the size of the former airport that served Siem Reap, the gateway to the Angkor Wat temple complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Cambodia’s top tourism draw. Passenger capacity has been increased about 40% to 7 million people.
“This is a result of the ironclad friendship between Cambodia and China,” Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said at the airport’s opening ceremony.
