Almost $400 million will be invested in Cambodia’s airports over the next eight years, the trade magazine Airport World has reported.

The investment will fund the extension to the international terminal at Phnom Penh’s airport, the upgrading of Siem Reap’s airport and improvements to the Sihanoukville airport, according to the report.

“It will be incurred by Cambodia Airports, a company 70 per cent owned by France’s VINCI Airports and 30 per cent by Muhibbah Masteron Cambodia, a Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture,” Norinda Khek, communications and PR director at Phnom Penh International Airport, told the Post.

“We are working on an investment plan, and the breakdown of the investment by airports has yet to be finalised.

“The first phase of the works will be launched by early 2013 for [Phnom Penh and Siem Reap] airports. When the upgrades are completed, the terminals at both airports will double their capacity to five million passengers a year each.”

Chhay Sivlin, vice-president of the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents, said: “It is good to have a good capacity to handle more passengers.

“The number of tourists to Cambodia is increasing year by year. I think it is good to be pro-active and be ready to handle more passengers in the future.”

Cambodia Airports projects an average 8.8 per cent increase in arrivals through the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports next year.

Last week, Prime Minister Hun Sen requisitioned 768 hectares that will be used to build an international airport in Kampong Chhnang after 2025.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anne Renzenbrink at [email protected]