Cambodia and Finland sign MoU

PNHOM PENH Cambodia’s Secretariat of Civil Aviation signed a Memorandum of Understanding, last week, with Finland’s Civil Aviation Authority to allow direct flights between the two countries.

Khmer Times quoted SSCA spokesman, Sin Sereyvutha, saying the MoU would pave the way for airlines in both Cambodia and Finland to establish direct air links between Phnom Penh and Helsinki.

“However, for the moment we don’t expect airlines to establish direct air routes. Passenger demand is not sufficient,” he said.

Instead it will probably lead to more codeshare partnerships between Finnair and airlines serving Cambodia possibly using the Bangkok gateway.

Bangkok is the main destination for Finnish tourists connecting to Thailand’s beach resorts, but if there were flights to Cambodia’s Sihanoukville, the main town near the country’s beach resorts on  the Gulf of Thailand, a codeshare service could be established.

According to Ministry of Tourism statistics, 7,246 Finnish tourists travel to Cambodia, last year, a slight increase of 0.2% from 7,232 visits in 2014.