A new national airline, Cambodia Angkor Air, will launch in July in Preah Sihanouk Province, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said Wednesday, though he declined to reveal who was behind the project and officials with the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said they were not aware of the new air carrier.
“The new national airline will start operating in July to coincide with the opening of [Preah Sihanouk’s] new Kang Keng Airport,” the minister said by telephone from Siem Reap, adding that the airline will have two ATR 72 short-haul planes at its service.
Mr Khon said that the new carrier, which will operate flights between Preah Sihanouk and Siem Reap, hopes to attract a large proportion of its customers from the cruise liners arriving at Preah Sihanouk Port every week.
“At least 30 percent of those on the cruise ships want to visit Angor Wat,” he said. “There are about two cruise ships arriving in the port every week each one carrying more than 1,000 tourists.”
The airline also hopes to take advantage of visitor arrivals at the new international port being built in Kep City, situated 130 km from Kang Keng airport.
Mr Khon declined to reveal the identities of the shareholders involved in the airline.
Ho Vandy, co-chair of the government-private sector tourism working group, said he too was told that a national carrier would be officially launched come July.
“The Minister of Tourism did not tell us who the new investors were but said that he would be making an official announcement soon,” Mr Vandy said, adding that Indonesia’s Rajawali Group had pulled out of an earlier deal to launch a national carrier.
In November 2007, a joint venture was announced between the Indonesian conglomerate Rajawali Group and the Cambodian government to create a new airline
to replace the defunct Royal Air Cambodge, the country’s former loss-making national carrier, which was liquidated in 2001.
Launch of the carrier, which was postponed throughout 2008, drew public criticism from Prime Minister Hun Sen who said that Cabinet Minister Sok An was taking too long to secure the airline deal.
Him Sarun, cabinet director at the Civil Aviation Secretariat, and Mao Havannall, secretary of state for the Civil Aviation Secretariat, said they were not aware that a new national carrier would launch.
“I heard that the deal with the Indonesian company [Rajawali Group] was cancelled,” Mr Sarun said, adding that he had not received any documents announcing the launch in July.
Mr Sarun also questioned whether or not the launch of a national air carrier during a time when the tourism industry is in disarray was sensible.
“I think at this time if we open a new airline during the downturn in tourism, it can be a problem,” he said. “The company can loose money.”
Mr Vandy, however, said that the arrival of the new national carrier would help re-ignite the tourism sector, but only if ticket prices were cheap.
