Cambodia Airlines plans to spend $1.5 billion to acquire up to 22 planes, a move that might see the new airline’s eventual fleet size overtake that of national carrier Cambodia Angkor Air.

“We [will be] starting to deploy 16 to 22 aircraft immediately once it’s ready to fly,” said Ramon Ang, president of Philippine Airlines, in a report published yesterday by Manila-based news network Rappler.

Philippine Airlines holds a 49 per cent stake in Cambodia Airlines, while local conglomerate Royal Group owns the rest.

The newly acquired planes would operate flights shared by Philippine Airlines and Cambodia Airlines, the report added, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, Cambodia Angkor Air intends to have six Airbus A321 and six ATR-72 turboprop planes by 2015.

Royal Group’s Chief Financial Officer Mark Hanna said last month that Cambodia Airlines hoped to bring in two Dash-8 aircraft and two Airbus A321s.

Representatives for Philippine Airlines and Royal Group could not be reached by press time.