The State Secretariat for Civil Aviation and the Council of Ministers have said Vietnam Airlines cannot have a daily flight from Siem Reap to Ho Chi Minh City, an aviation official said Thursday.
Measketh Caimirane, the undersecretary of state for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, cited an exclusive arrangement with Bangkok Airways for all international flights to Siem Reap as the reason.
A spokesman in Vietnam Airline’s Phnom Penh offices said he had not heard of the decision.
The government signed a contract with Dumez-GTM, the consortium renovating and managing Pochentong, that says the airport will be Cambodia’s only international gateway until 2005.
But in September, the government permitted Bangkok Airways to fly direct flights between Bangkok and Siem Reap.
In March, Vietnam Airlines flew four trial charter flights and said they wanted to begin daily service on April 1.