Major milestones in May
Local airlines drive growth in domestic travel as passenger rates increase across all airports.
This month marked a major milestone for Sihanouk International Airport, as a surge in passengers this past May – a 330% increase from the same month last year – ensured the airport welcomed nearly 600,000 passengers in the first five months of the year. With this increase in activity, the airport’s year-on-year passenger movements have, for the first time ever, reached over 1 million.
This growth is in great part powered by a 416% rise in international passengers over the past year, who are taking advantage of the many new routes available to visit the growing city of Sihanoukville. In the past two months alone, Ruili Airlines launched a new daily flight from the Chinese city of Lanzhou, while JC Airlines launched new routes to both Bangkok and Wuhan.
At Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports, overall growth has been buoyed by increasing numbers of domestic travelers, with the airports experiencing a 21% and 13% year-on-year increase, respectively, over the course of the past year. The capital welcomed nearly 500,000 travelers, a boost of 15% from the year before, while Siem Reap saw over 280,000 travelers, reflecting a 3% increase.
This surge in local travel has been accomplished despite an overall year-on-year decrease of 2% in domestic movements at the capital’s airport – a dip in operations directly linked to the cessation of operations of two local airlines last year. Other local airlines have, however, begun opening new international routes and pushing the domestic aviation sector forward, as carriers like Lanmei Airlines, JC Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air have each experienced considerable growth in the past year.
More information: www.facecook.com/cambodia.airports
Check out May’s traffic trends here.