New Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (AIAI) to finish as planned, despite aviation decline

• 14 May 2020
• Local News
• 7511 Views

Construction of the new Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (AIAI) is scheduled for completion in 2023, despite the slowdown in the aviation sector due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the construction of some new airports, coagulating airfreight, and caused a massive decline in air travelers.

The schedule for completion was announced during a courtesy and work progress meeting with H.E. Mao Havannall, Minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) and Mr. Lu Wei, Chairman of Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd., on 11 May 2020.

Mr. Lu Wei said that the company is currently in the process of constructing a new Siem Reap International Airport. The construction started since 15 March 2020 and will be completed on 14 March 2023 as planned, taking 36 months in total.

This US$900 million airport is being built on a 700-hectare plot and also includes a 1,000-hectare special economic zone.
During the first quarter of 2020, the aviation sector in Cambodia was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the construction of the new Phnom Penh International Airport facing some obstacles due to the difficulty of Chinese construction companies to return to Cambodia resulting in a slowing of the construction process.

In addition, inactivity in the aviation sector through coagulating airfreight and the massive decline in air travelers by about 92% since the beginning of April, has also brought challenges for the aviation sector. Given this considerable impact, the future recovery of the sector remains unpredictable, according to H.E Sin Chanserey Vutha, Deputy Director of the General Technical of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation in a press conference on the “Progress and Continuing Direction of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation” on the morning of 16 April 2020. (Read more)