Press Release

Every year, Cambodia’s 3 international airports join their sister airports, a network of 36 hubs worldwide developed and managed by VINCI Airports, in celebrating World Environment Day. In Cambodia, the 2018 event has been extended to a full week focusing on entrusting youngsters with a leading role in building awareness on plastic waste, in particular on single-use plastic such as cups, straws, bags and other packaging. The key message is “If you can’t reuse it, refuse it.”

Each day of the week, there will be initiatives evolving around educating all airport stakeholders about negative impacts of plastic overuse, including:

• Clean walks along the airports’ fences in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville.
• Involvement of tenants in cutting down the amount of single-use plastic by systematically asking their customers if they really need plastic straws, bags, cup covers etc.
• Invitation to 20 primary school students to join a workshop on plastic use in Cambodia and work on an awareness campaign by drawing a communication visual and enter a drawing contest. The results of this workshop will be displayed at the airports terminals. Then students will be asked to share their experience to their fellow classmates back in school.
• Environmental awareness sessions, in partnership and conducted by the local NGO SIPAR, for 20 children of grades 3 to 5 from NGO schools. They will be asked to draw what they think about environment and their drawings will be displayed at the terminals.
• Invitation to 9 associations, each contributing in their own way to the environment, to come and present their activities, coordinated by Soulcial Trust: Clean Green Cambodia, ReHash Trash, Kingdom of WOW, Can’Art, Friends ‘n’ Stuff, Gaea Waste Management, Plastic Free Cambodia, Cambodia Bird Guide Association (CBGA), and environmental artist Monisilong Riem.

And at the very end of the week:

• Survey undertaken by Young Eco Ambassadors for feedbacks from tenants and passengers about the World Environment Day events at the airports.
• Selection from the drawing contest of 3 visuals that could turn into a successful awareness message. The winners will be awarded special prizes.

Éric DELOBEL, CEO of Cambodia Airports, said: “Environmental consciousness must lead to concrete actions and that’s what we have been achieving at the airports for years. A few months ago, we commissioned 2 waste water treatment plants at Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports. Other initiatives deployed include streamlining electricity use at the airports’ facilities, phasing out old vehicles and sorting of waste.”

Within the framework of the Airport Carbon Accreditation (ACA), introduced in 2009 on the initiative of the Airports Council International (ACI), Cambodia’s 3 international airports renewed last March the level 1 certification of a program aiming at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Independently verified, the accreditation results from the successful mapping of all CO2 emissions at the airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. The carbon footprint obtained can therefore be used as a starting point to control, reduce and ultimately neutralize the airports’ impact on their environment.

VINCI Airports, Cambodia Airports’ mother company, is the first international group to commit all of its airports to the Airports Carbon Accreditation program. Today, all of them have been continuously certified at different levels.

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About Cambodia Airports:

Under a public-private partnership signed with the Royal Government of Cambodia in 1995, Cambodia Airports holds the concession for the development and management of Cambodia’s network of international airports serving the capital city of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, home to the UNESCO World Heritage Angkor Archaeological Complex, and the port city and beach resort of Sihanoukville.

The shareholders of Cambodia Airports are France’s VINCI Airports (70%) and Muhibbah Masteron Cambodia (30%), a Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture.

In 2017, the number of passengers going through Cambodia’s international airports totaled 8.8 million, 4.2 million each for Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international airports. From a low base but experiencing triple-digit growth, Sihanoukville International Airport handled 338,000 passengers. All 3 platforms serve 55+ destinations and welcome 700 regular flights per week.

Key drivers for Cambodia’s economy, the international airports contributed in 2014-2015 to 17% of the country’s total GDP and. More than 1.7 million jobs, representing 20% of the working population, were related to their activities.

Website: www.cambodia-airports.com

About VINCI Airports:

VINCI Airports, a top 5 global player in the international airport sector, manages the development and operations of 36 airports located in France, Portugal (including the hub of Lisbon), Cambodia, Japan, Dominican Republic, Chile and Brazil. Served by more than 250 airlines, VINCI Airports’ network handled 157 million passengers in 2017.

Through its expertise as a comprehensive integrator and the professionalism of its 12,000 employees, VINCI Airports develops, finances, builds and operates airports, leveraging its investment capability, international network and know-how to optimize the management and performance of existing airport infrastructure, facility extensions and new-build construction projects. In 2017, its consolidated revenue amounted to €1.4 bn.

More comprehensive information is available on www.vinci-airports.com