Khmer route: New airport paves way for long-haul flights to Cambodia

Phnom Penh’s lavish new international airport has opened for business ahead of the imminent expansion of flag carrier flights to the Cambodian capital.

Costing around $2 billion to build, Techo International Airport welcomed its first flight, an Air Cambodia arrival from China, on September 9, with Singapore Airlines next to touch down.

The opening of the airport is expected to reduce reliance on connections from better-connected neighbouring cities such as Bangkok and Singapore, making it easier for international travellers to fly directly to Cambodia.

From early October, Etihad Airlines is to fly direct to the new airport from Abu Dhabi, which in turn receives flights from dozens of European cities.

The same week will see the United Arab Emirates-based carrier launch direct routes to Krabi, a popular beach tourism hub in Thailand, and to Medan, an Indonesian city of around 2.5 million people and international gateway to Lake Toba, which fills the crater left by a colossal ancient volcanic eruption.

Turkish Airways announced two years ago that it would be launching Istanbul - Phnom Penh flights once the new airport opened, with a December 2025 start pencilled in at the time.

Cambodia’s economy depends heavily on tourism, which can account for up to 20% of gross domestic product in busy years. In the past many visitors have visited the country as part of a trip taking in neighbours such as Laos, Vietnam and Thailand.

One of the country’s main attractions is the massive temple ruin at Angkor Wat, close to the town of Siem Reap, where a new Chinese-built airport was opened in late 2023.

However, tourism in the region has taken a hit this year, with numbers to Thailand falling even ahead of its border with Cambodia being declared off-limits in mid-year as the two countries' armies exchanged fire.