The study begins on the project to reopen Battambang airport

• 15 May 2020
• Local News
• 3426 Views

A study to reopen Battambang airport has opened with a detailed overview of the feasibility, rehabilitation, and renovation potential and impact, but the exact cost of the study is yet to be confirmed.

H.E. Governor of Battambang, Ngoun Rathanak, in a press conference on the “Progress and Continuing Direction of the Provincial Administration of Battambang” on the morning of 13 May 2020, said that the potential upgrade is to facilitate and cater to the travel needs of the province and to enhance the business performance of people in the province across the country easily and by saving time.

“As a result, Samdech Sar Kheng and the provincial administration, after receiving a company proposal, asked to study the airport project to see whether it needs
anything else for flight possibility, since the airport, was inaugurated in 1968, but the airport was capable to serve only ATR plane types,” added the governor.

“The study aims at examining the possibilities of the current market and to see whether the existing runway and air road, parking, and taxiway is able to serve the current market or not. Now, the company has been studying,” he explained.

Two teams are involved in the study: 1) H.E. Sork Sitha, Standing Secretary of State of the Secretariat of Civil Aviation is leading the study and 2) the provincial administration is studying the possible impacts in the field.

After the Battambang airport is reopened, the Battambang government expects tourism to grow in the province.

Since its last closure in 1991, the airport has been included in a US$3.5 million investment project of the government to construct, restore, expand and upgrade all airports in Cambodia via the aviation development plan 2015 – 2023. This is according to H.E Sin Chansereyvutha, Deputy Director of the Technical Secretariat of Civil Aviation on Thursday, 16 April 2020. The airport in Battambang will be invested in by FAiraviata (AAT) Cambodia Regional Airlines Company, which is now studying the location and cost of the project. The project is divided into three stages, and for the long-term will be relocated. For the short-term project, the government will use the budget for the rehabilitation of the old Battambang airport. (Read More)