Cambodia opens a new $2 billion airport to serve Phnom Penh

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday inaugurated a major new airport to serve the capital Phnom Penh and boost tourism and foreign investment.

Techo International Airport is a three-runway facility that replaces the nearly 70-year-old Phnom Penh International Airport, which had only one runway.

The new $2 billion airport, in Kandal province about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Phnom Penh. began operating in September. It is a joint venture between the Cambodian government and the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp.

Hun Manet said he hoped the new airport will be a driving forces in attracting more tourists and investors to Cambodia,"more than before the arrival of COVID-19."

The new airport is initially expected to be able to accommodate 13 million passengers, but its capacity will increase to 30 million after 2030, and up to 50 million by 2050.

The immediate prospects for a rise in foreign tourists have been overshadowed by the highly publicized death of a young South Korean man who reportedly was tricked into working in one of Cambodia’s online scam centers.

Many of the workers there are kept as virtual slaves to conduct online fraud in what is a multi-billion dollar organized crime activity. The illegal industry was highlighted last week when the United States and Britain enacted sanctions against organizers of a major Cambodian gang, and its alleged ringleader was indicted by a federal court in New York.

Tourism suffered another blow in July, when Cambodia fought a five-day conflict with neighboring Thailand. It was halted by a ceasefire but tensions remain high.

Cambodia received about 4 million foreign tourists from January through August this year, Hun Manet said in September. Last year, it received 6.7 million, a 23% increase from 2023.

It is Cambodia's second new major airport in two years. In October 2023, Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport was opened to help serve Cambodia's most popular tourist attraction, the centuries-old Angkor Wat temple complex.