Cambodia Angkor Air drops expansion plan over regional tensions - ch

Cambodia Angkor Air (K6, Siem Reap) has deferred its plans to launch additional regional services in the wake of civil disturbances in both Vietnam and Thailand which have affected cross-border tourism in the region.

Airline chairman Tekret Samrach told the Phnom Penh Post that the recent Thai coup d’etat coupled with the ongoing stand-off between Vietnam and China over an oilrig sited in disputed waters, had forced his airline to postpone indefinitely plans to serve Beijing Capital, Singapore Changi, and Tokyo Narita.

“We need to strictly study the market demand. And now it is not right [to launch the flights] as our neighbours still have problems, so it affects our tourism industry,” he said. “Normally, on the package tour, tourists don’t want to only visit us for the majority of their trip, they want to spend a few days here and then they want to move on to Vietnam or Thailand. But now they don’t want to waste their money, until the situation in the two [Vietnam and Thailand] has not gotten better.”

Tekret said a review of the status quo would likely be undertaken next year.

Using a fleet of four A321-200s and two ATR72-500s, the Vietnam Airlines (VN, Hanoi) subsidiary currently serves Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville locally as well Guangzhou, Shanghai Pudong, Fuzhou, Hangzhou, Wenzhou, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City regionally.

Cambodia Angkor Air drops expansion plan over regional tensions - ch