PRIME Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that Cambodia Angkor Air (CAA) was turning a profit ahead of schedule, with a top aviation official adding that the national carrier was operating at near capacity.

“We expected the airline to make losses for two years, but now this airline is making profit because a lot of passengers are using it,” Hun Sen said, without giving any figures.

Soy Sokhan, undersecretary of state in charge of CAA at the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, also did not give earnings figures. But he said the five-month-old airline had boosted its load factor from a low of 25 percent in July to between 80 percent and 90 percent – pushing the airline into the black.

The US$100 million joint venture between the government and Vietnam Airlines made its maiden flight July 28.

Its main route between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap was initially shared with Bangkok Airways, but the Thai-based carrier’s licence to fly domestic routes was not renewed when it expired on October 25, giving CAA a monopoly. CAA also flies to Ho Chi Minh City.