by Wanwisa Ngamsangchaikit  

 

 

PHNOM PENH, 11 January 2017: Five local and international airline companies will launch services in Cambodia over the next two years.

 

The five airline companies include JC Airlines, Lainmen Airlines, Air Siem Reap, Small Planet Airlines and Spring Airlines.

 

Cambodia Daily media broke the news quoting the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation’s flight operations and air safety department director, Keo Sivorn.

 

JC Cambodia International Airlines and Lanmei International Airlines, two of the five airlines to receive “in-principle approval” from the government, have now officially taken the next step and applied for a license.

 

Air Siem Reap, Small Planet Airlines and Spring Airlines have also signaled their desire to move forward.

The director pointed out that airlines cannot launch flights until they gain licenses from the SSCA, which is a separate process from gaining in-principle approval.

 

“We will review their applications and conduct actual audits of their planes and related documents,” he said

Both JC Cambodia and Lanmei submitted applications to the aviation authority about two months ago, he said, adding that the review process takes about 120 days. If their requests are successful, they will join four local and 32 international airlines offering flights from the country’s airports.

 

They plan to fly to China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and South Korea. Each will potentially launch services with two Airbus A320s, the report added.

According to Ministry of Tourism official latest data, Cambodia attracted 3.92 million international tourists, during January to October 2016, increasing 4.4% from 3.75 million visits during the same period in 2015.

The major sources markets for tourism were Vietnam, China, Thailand, South Korea, Laos, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and France.

 

SOURCE http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2017/01/more-airlines-to-operate-in-cambodia/

The air safety department director is probably just as effective as the land transport safety director to ensure safety while traveling in Cambodia.