Cambodia's national flag carrier Cambodia Angkor Air on Friday launched scheduled flight services connecting Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City and Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main beach resort destination, according to a press release from the Cambodia Airports.

The airline's maiden flight, operated with a 70-seat ATR72-turboprop plane, landed at Sihanouk International Airport on Friday afternoon, the press release said.

"Whereas several charter flights are already connecting Sihanoukville with foreign cities, Cambodia Angkor Air is the first airline to offer direct international scheduled flights to the port city," it said. "The new service operates 5 times a week on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays."

With air travel demands to Sihanoukville progressively gaining momentum, traffic at Sihanouk International Airport has experienced significantly steady growth. In 2015, the number of passengers nearly totaled 100,000 passengers, a year-on-year growth rate of 118 percent.

"The launch of Cambodia Angkor Air's international flights is a very positive move in the right direction towards further developing Sihanoukville into a destination in its own right," said Eric Delobel, CEO of Cambodia Airports.

"We firmly believe in the attraction of Sihanoukville and the Kingdom's coastline and will continue to work with all stakeholders to fulfill their tourism potential."

source : xinhua