PM Hun Sen Expects New Siem Reap Airport to Go Online by 2023 Despite Slow Progress

• 4 April 2022
• Local News
• 1424 Views

Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen has placed high hopes on the Angkor Siem Reap International Airport being completed and operational by late 2023, despite the fact that the current progress of the construction is only at 22% completion.

The remarks were made on 3 April during the site inspection of the airport with relevant officers.

“Siem Reap Angkor International Standard Airport will play an important role in boosting the tourism and economy when it launches next year,” he said.

With an estimated cost of US$880 million in construction, Angkor-Siem Reap International Airport began construction in March 2020 and is scheduled to take a total of 36 months to be completed.

Invested in by Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., an affiliate of China’s Yunnan Investment Holdings Ltd., the Angkor-Siem Reap International Airport is a 4E International Airport being built on an area of 700 hectares in Sotr Nikom district, 50 km from Siem Reap downtown.

The airport is being developed under a 55-year build-operate-transfer (BOT) model for which five years is allocated for construction and 50 years for business operations.

The new airport is capable of accommodating 7 million passengers a year in the first phase, a response to the expected growth of foreign tourists to Siem Reap in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era. To date, the construction of passenger terminals has achieved 19% completion and a runway is scheduled to be completed in May.
Meanwhile, other infrastructures such as office buildings and dormitories, air traffic control tower, cargo warehouse, oil station and pipelines, and car park are slated to be finished by the end of 2022.
The project is expected to be fully completed in March 2023 and put into use in October 2023 after safety and security testing.

• Projects Development
• Road and Infrastructure