Air Asia restarts Phnom Penh-Kuala Lumpur flights

Air Asia restarts Phnom Penh-Kuala Lumpur flights

The delight of the crew of the first Air Asia flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh to touch down since July 2020 was palpable. The arrival of the almost full plane from Kuala Lumpur also had the Cambodia Airport staff on the ground very excited as it marks the beginning of what would be another milestone of the reopening of travel to and from the country and an example of how other countries in the region might follow suit.

As Chief Commercial Officer at Cambodia Airports, Stephen King, told Khmer Times just after the plane had landed: “I think as more countries see what Cambodia is doing, hopefully, they’ll follow the trend.”

And echoing a sentiment that everyone shared at this launching of flights between the two capitals Stephen said: “It’s great to have new flights and more routes coming on board and at pretty attractive prices. We all want to see more connections and more options.”

With Cambodia now welcoming fully-vaccinated visitors from any country without quarantine requirements upon arrival, and requiring only proof of a negative Covid-19 test taken 72 hrs before departure and a negative rapid test on arrival, Air Asia Malaysia celebrated yesterday’s resumption of flights between Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh after already restarting flights between Phnom Penh and Bangkok last December.

AirAsia will operate two return flights a week, every Wednesday and Sunday. More routes will be added and frequencies increased as travel demand grows in tandem with the reopening of more destinations in the near future, subject to approval from the authorities.

Fully vaccinated travellers from Malaysia who wish to travel to Cambodia must meet the requirements set by the Cambodian government prior to purchasing their flights and upon arrival.

“The Cambodian government has taken a very pragmatic approach and open-minded view to enable people to travel so that airlines can restart flights,” Stephen said, adding: “even if Malaysia is a bit more constrained than here if you do want to go to Malaysia.”

The news of low-cost carrier flights resuming to Kuala Lumpur will be welcome news to Malaysian nationals (especially those looking forward to celebrating the Chinese New Year coming up) and foreign nationals with the required passes to travel there, however, with the exception of Langkawi Island, Malaysia is still generally closed for tourism for the time being. However, hopes are high that restrictions will gradually be lifted in Malaysia and other neighbouring countries following the ongoing discussions between members of the ASEAN Plus Three on creating a travel bubble in the region.

Communications Director for Cambodia Airports, Norinda Khek, sees today’s first flight as a first step in the return of a steady flow of travellers to and from the two destinations.

“The inbound flights between Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh should reach reasonable load factors as Cambodia has maintained its reopening policy to fully vaccinated visitors,” he said, noting with a word of caution that “to sustain the air service and fill up seats for outbound flights (Pnh to KL), we need the relaxation of border measures and quarantine-free measures in Malaysia. Hopefully, with recent talks of creating an ASEAN air travel bubble, the goal of having more intra-regional travels could be addressed.”

As regards the health and safety measures in place in Cambodia for incoming travellers, Khek was very clear: “We are confident that Cambodian authorities will adequately adapt to the situation as it unfolds.”

According to the figures of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, international tourists arriving in Cambodia by air last year amounted to a mere 33,535.

This compares with the sizably larger number of 1,299,122 visitor arrivals at our airports in 2019.

Khek is confident about the potential increase of visitors to the Kingdom that these Air Asia flights should bring.

Stephen again is hopeful that the good sense of reopening more routes like today’s Air Asia’s connection to the capital will begin to be apparent more as the benefits start to be reaped by both economies.

“Tourism is a very valuable asset for all of these countries so the more people are able to connect the more they will be able to spend,” said Stephen. Khmer Times