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Coastal flights back on agenda
Developers and real estate agents have again emphasised the need for regular flights to Sihanoukville airport, with one party calling it “possibly the single most critical issue affecting tourism” in Cambodia.
As Société Concessionnaire Des Aéroports prepares to announce its high-season schedule on Wednesday morning, the issue of Sihanoukville airport has again come under the spotlight.
Currently staffed by around 40 workers, some of whom SCA officials have said are employed to maintain equipment, the airport still has no regular flights running to it after operations were resumed in 2007.
The lack of traffic comes despite an extension of the runway, which now stands at 2,500 metres according to SCA’s website, and the concessionaire’s 2009 brochure billing it as “the airport likely to become the busiest platform in years ahead”.
Developers and real estate agents with interests in the coastal town urged the need for government action – pointing to the involvement of national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air – in an email seen on Tuesday.
Chairman of the Song Saa island resort development, Rory Hunter, said: “The main point I’d like to convey is that this is not a ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario. Without flights, investors will not put up the sort of money required to build hotels as it’s simply too risky
Phnom Penh Post
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