Phnom Penh airport expands

PHNOM PENH A Malaysian company, Muhibbah Engineering, will construct a new domestic terminal at Phnom Penh International Airport at a cost of about USD23 million.

Cambodia Daily media reported the firm announced the deal in a statement to the Malaysian stock exchange last Wednesday.

Construction of  the new domestic terminal at Phnom Penh Airport is supposed to be completed by the end of 2017.

Muhibbah has a 30% stake in Cambodia Airports—which holds the concession to operate the Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville airports—with French construction company Vinci holding the remaining 70%.

Work on the new domestic terminal will begin this July.

New international terminals were officially opened in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap last month, built at a combined cost of USD100 million.

Phnom Penh Post quoted Cambodia Airports’ routes development manager, Pichr Sopontara, saying the new terminal increased capacity from 2.5 million to 5 million passengers a year.

“Previously, the airport could handle only 2.5 million passengers, but last year passenger arrivals reached 3 million, so we need to expand,” he said.

A total of 353,948 domestic passengers passed through the Phnom Penh airport in 2015, according to Cambodia Airports’ data, compared to 239,101 the year before. And 101,318 domestic passengers transited through the airport in the first three months of this year, putting it on track to exceed last year’s total.