Sihanoukville runway to be completed by midyear

Sihanoukville runway to be completed by midyear

By midyear, Sihanoukville International Airport will be able to handle the land-in and take-off of long-haul aircraft when the standard runway is extended to 3,300 meters.

The completion of the runway extension coinciding with the airport seeing high year-on-year growth of passenger traffic.

The extension along with a terminal upgrade has been completed by Cambodia Airports, the company that manages the country’s three airports, at a cost of $21 million a year.

Work on the building terminal has also been started, said Khek Norinda, communication and public relations director of Cambodia Airports.

“The runway extension will allow for the handling of bigger and long-range aircraft, is scheduled to be completed in around mid-2020. We have also launched works for a new VIP terminal and for a temporary new arrivals hall,” Mr. Norinda said.

Figures from Cambodia Airport show that Sihanoukville International Airport saw a 158 percent year-on-year rise to 1.6 million in 2019.

Passenger throughput at the three international airports grew 10.2 percent to 11.6 million passengers in 2019.

Also, Cambodia’s State of Secretariat of Civil Aviation approved last September the master plan for Sihanoukville airport that will expand its passenger capacity to 10 million a year.

The expansion will be carried out in several phases, according to the approved blueprint. Phase 1 will expand the airport’s capacity to 3.6 million passengers per year. The next phase will be able to handle at least 10 million passengers per year.

Talal Al Gergawi, Emirates manager for Cambodia, operates a daily Dubai-Phnom Penh route, said yesterday that Cambodia’s aviation sector is growing not just in the amount of passenger traffic, but also in diverse airport facilities. He has pushed the company to consider expanding the number of flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap and Sihanoukville in future plans.

KHMER TIMES