20 Sep 2016
PHNOM PENH Spring Airlines, a Chinese budget airline, is holding talks with the Cambodia government to open a commercial pilot training school in the country.
Khmer Times quoted the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation spokesman, Sinn Chanserey Vutha, saying the proposal was discussed recently between Prime Minister Hun Sen and Spring Airlines’ president Wang Zhenghua in Nanning, China on the sidelines of the 13th ASEAN-China Expo last week.
“It was just a proposal and in reality we don’t know what will happen as many companies have said they want to open a pilot training school in Cambodia, usually followed by a long silence.”
He added: “We lack pilots in Cambodia and currently pilots are trained by specific airlines, not through an independent agency such as civil aviation.”
Spring Airlines will operate three weekly flights from Guangzhou to Phnom Penh on 30 September using Airbus A320.
The airline started a three weekly service between Guangzhou and Siem Reap, 9 September.
During the first six months of the year, Cambodia welcomed 378,737 Chinese tourists increasing 13.0% from 335,042 visits during the same period last year.
Cambodia expects to welcome as many as 2 million Chinese tourists to the kingdom by 2020.