Malaysia’s MIDF Research: Cambodia Aviation Market to Quickly Recovery in Next Two Years

• 2 April 2021
• Local News
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Malaysia’s MIDF Research has predicted that the Cambodian aviation market will gain momentum in the next two years after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, according to The Malaysian Reserve.

The forecast analysed the 2021 and 2022 financial status of Malaysian firm Muhibbah Engineering, which has a 21% stake in Cambodia’s three major airports: Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville airports.

According to the same source, for 2021 and 2022, the revenue of the firm from the Cambodian aviation market is expected to increase significantly, accounting for about 70% of Muhibbah Engineering’s total revenue.

“The outlook of Cambodia Airports is set to be on a gradual recovery over the next two years on the back of an accelerated COVID-19 vaccination drive across the globe, especially China, the US and South East Asia,” it noted in the MIDF Research report.

“We postulate that this likely phenomenon will improve the air traffic volume for the group’s Cambodia airports. To note, about one-third of travellers to the airport are Chinese nationals. Therefore, the earnings recovery momentum for the group is seen to be positive moving forward,” said MIDF Research.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the aviation sector in Cambodia had been growing steadily, thanks to rapid growth in the tourism sector and the continuous investment from both the government and the private sectors.

Besides the three major existing airports, Cambodia is currently building another large-scale airport with an investment of over US$1.5 billion in Kandal province, which is expected to welcome passengers by 2023. To date, the construction is about 30% complete. (Read more)

In April last year, the government also announced US$3.5 billion is to be invested in building, expanding and renovating all Cambodian airports. This is part of the government’s 2015 – 2023 aviation development masterplan from or known as the Open Sky Policy. (Read more)

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