New international route connects Sihanoukville and Kuala Lumpur
On August 9th 2017, the international airport in Sihanoukville welcomed AirAsia’s maiden flight from Malaysia’s capital city.
A water cannon salute greeted the opening route of AirAsia with a full flight of 180 passengers on board after the aircraft had landed at the airport. The new service operates on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.
Coming after the launch in June 2016 of the first international scheduled flight between Ho Chi Minh City and Sihanoukville, this new connection to/from Kuala Lumpur via AirAsia reflects the airport’s boosting activities.
Éric Delobel, CEO of Cambodia Airports, said: “Our successful partnership with AirAsia is moving up another step and it is a key driver in connecting Cambodia to the world. We want to welcome more visitors and airlines in Sihanoukville as we are confident in its potential. Further improving the airport’s facilities and passenger experience is key, that is why we will inaugurate early 2018 a new terminal in addition of overhauling the runway capacity for bigger aircraft.”
In the 2nd quarter of 2017, the airport of Sihanoukville recorded spectacular growth of 269.4%, thanks to the opening of several new lines serving this destination, which is increasingly popular with domestic and Asian tourists.
In December 2016, VINCI Airports started an important infrastructure enhancement program to enlarge facilities and handle the growth of passenger arrivals at Sihanoukville airport. It includes:
- The extension of the current terminal by 80%, from 2,700 sqm to 4,800 sqm, to cater to 500,000 passengers/year
- The full renovation of the existing building