Liftoff looms for the new Siem Reap airport

A new international airport for Siem Reap has come a step closer after a high-level technical working group was set up to work out the details.
 

The government established the group after a proposal was submitted to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC).
 

The main work of the group, formed by the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), will cover inspection of all aspects of the project, facilitate legal procedures, value the progress of the project and take action to deal with issues that arise, the SSCA said.
 

The new airport is to be built in Sout Nikom district, about 50 kilometers from Siem Reap City. Flight restrictions over Angkor Wat have created difficulties for the present airport.
 

The new facility will also double the present airport’s capacity of five million visitors a year.
 

Establishment of the technical team came soon after China’s Yunnan Investment Holdings Ltd. submitted full proposals for building the airport to the CDC, Sinn Chansereyvutha, the SSCA’s spokesperson, said yesterday.
 

Provincial governor Kim Bunsong said construction is due to start by the end of this year or early next year.
 

Provincial officials and officials from the Chinese company are also working on a rail link from the new airport to Siem Reap City, he said.
He did not know the cost of the new airport, but said construction would take from four to five years.
 

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