Increase in direct flights to promote economic development between China and Cambodia

At around 10am on April 29th, an Airbus A321 flight loaded with tourists landed at Cambodge's Siem Reap International Airport. This was the first flight of China Southern Airlines to resume direct flights from Guangzhou to Siem Reap after the epidemic. The average weekly number of direct flights between China and Cambodia continues to increase, driving the return of Chinese tourists and increasing China's trade and investment in Cambodia, which is expected to continue to promote Cambodia's economic development.

Zhou Yingping, General Manager of China Southern Airlines' Phnom Penh Business Department, stated that this time, China Southern Airlines will resume flights from Guangzhou to Siem Reap, with three round-trip operations every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. In addition to the previous daily flights from Guangzhou to Phnom Penh and three weekly flights from Shenzhen to Phnom Penh, China Southern Airlines currently operates 13 flights per week to Cambodia, close to 31% before the epidemic. Thanks to the rapid recovery of China Cambodia economic, trade and tourism, China Southern Airlines has maintained a passenger occupancy rate of around 80% on flights departing from China. Based on market demand, China Southern Airlines plans to add one more flight per day from Guangzhou to Phnom Penh on June 10th, which will make travel and economic and trade exchanges between the people of China and Cambodia more convenient.

Before the outbreak of the epidemic, there were over 400 flights per week between three international airports in Cambodia and 37 cities in China, operated by 22 airlines. With the joint efforts of both sides, the air transport market between China and Cambodia is recovering in an orderly manner. At present, there are about 100 direct flight between China and Cambodia every week, which are operated by 11 airlines, including 3 Cambodian airlines and 8 Chinese airlines. The flights from Beijing Capital Airport to Phnom Penh operated by Air China currently operate three times a week, with two new flights added after the full launch of the civil aviation summer and autumn season on March 26th. He Lipeng, General Manager of Xiamen Airlines' Phnom Penh Office, stated that Xiamen Airlines has resumed 7 weekly flights from Xiamen to Phnom Penh since January 27 of this year. In the future, Xiamen Airlines will increase its capacity in Cambodia based on market demand.

To further attract Chinese tourists and investment, a delegation from the Cambodian Civil Aviation State Secretariat visited Beijing on April 25th. The two sides signed the "Cooperation Agreement between the Civil Aviation Administration of China and the Cambodian Civil Aviation State Secretariat on Implementing the Safety of the Seventh Aviation Authority" and conducted in-depth discussions on working together to promote the recovery and development of the civil aviation industry. Cambodia hopes that direct flight between Cambodia and China can be increased from 100 flights a week to 300 flights, so as to promote the development of tourism and increase economic and trade investment between the two countries. According to the statistics of the General Administration of Customs of Cambodia, in the first quarter of this year, China continued to maintain Cambodia's position as the largest trading partner, with a bilateral trade volume of 2.861 billion US dollars. Among them, Cambodia imports 2.533 billion US dollars from China, and China remains the largest importer of Cambodia. Cambodia's exports to China reached 328 million US dollars, an increase of 2.1% compared to the same period last year. China is Cambodia's third largest exporter. According to data from the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia, there were nearly 140000 Chinese tourists to Cambodia in the first quarter, and nearly 80000 Chinese tourists visited Cambodia in the first two months. In March, Cambodia recorded nearly 60000 Chinese tourists entering the country.

The gradual recovery of China Cambodia shipping has effectively promoted the overall development of Cambodia's civil aviation industry. On April 19th, the State Secretariat of the Civil Aviation of Cambodia reported that Cambodia attracted a total of 1.26 million air passengers in the first quarter of this year, an increase of nearly 5.5 times compared to the same period last year. In the first quarter, there were 12091 international and domestic flights to Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and West Port in Cambodia, an increase of nearly twice compared to the same period last year. A spokesperson for the Cambodian Civil Aviation State Secretariat stated earlier that the optimization of China's entry and exit management policies and the recovery of outbound team tourism will inject new impetus into the development of the aviation and tourism industries. Cambodia is expected to attract approximately 4.6 million air passengers this year, and the number of air passengers will double. The aviation industry will create 1.7 million direct and indirect employment opportunities.

In recent years, Cambodia has vigorously developed infrastructure construction, laying a solid foundation for the recovery of the aviation industry. The renovation of the runway and terminal building at Xigang International Airport has greatly increased transportation capacity. The Siem Reap Angkor International Airport project, jointly invested and constructed by Yuntou Group, Yunnan Construction Investment Group, and Yunnan Aviation Industry Investment Group, is progressing smoothly. Wang Hongxian, Deputy General Manager of Angkor International Airport (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., introduced that the main project has been completed, and the completion acceptance is being organized in batches. The preparation work for navigation, such as system joint debugging and testing, is being carried out in an orderly manner. The school flight is planned to start in mid May and achieve navigation in October. The design standard of Siem Reap Angkor International Airport is Class 4E, which can accommodate large passenger planes from around the world after opening to traffic. In the initial stage of operation, the passenger throughput can reach 7 million people per year, which is of great significance for protecting the historical sites of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap and driving the development of Cambodia's tourism industry. The construction of Phnom Penh New International Airport, undertaken by China Construction Third Engineering Bureau, has also been completed by nearly half and is currently in the mechanical and electrical installation stage. Liu Hao, the person in charge of mechanical and electrical installation of the project, stated that the construction of the airport energy center will be completed in September this year. The entire project is expected to be completed by the end of 2024 and put into operation in 2025. After completion, it will become the world's highest level 4F level airport, capable of taking off and landing the world's largest wide body passenger aircraft, and can accommodate 13 million tourists annually.

Thanks to the recovery of the aviation industry, the tourism industry will become an important engine driving Cambodia's economic growth this year. Cambodian officials predict that the tourism industry in Cambodia will continue to recover this year, receiving 15 million domestic tourists and 4 million foreign tourists throughout the year. From April 14th to 16th, during the Cambodian New Year, Cambodia received over 13 million domestic and foreign tourists. According to the latest statistics from the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism, within the week after the Cambodian New Year (April 17th to 23rd), Cambodia received nearly 790000 domestic and foreign tourists, including over 750000 local tourists and over 35000 foreign tourists, which is much higher than the average number of tourists received per week before the Cambodian New Year, indicating that the Cambodian tourism industry is accelerating its recovery.

China was the largest source of tourists in Cambodia before the epidemic, with a total of 2.36 million Chinese tourists visiting Cambodia in 2019, accounting for approximately 36% of foreign tourists in Cambodia that year. With the continuous resumption of flights between China and Cambodia and the deepening of economic, trade, and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the number of Chinese tourists entering Cambodia will continue to grow in the future. This year, Cambodia is expected to attract 800000 to 1 million Chinese tourists, and trade and investment cooperation between China and Cambodia will be further strengthened, which will effectively promote Cambodia's economic growth.