With the support of the Japanese government, satellite systems will be installed at Cambodia’s international airports from next year, according to an official.

Soy  Sokhan, under-secretary of state for the Secretariat of State and Civil Aviation, said satellite systems would be installed at the Phnom Penh International Airport next June, at the Siem Reap International Airport at the end of next year and at the Sihanoukville International Airport in mid-2014.  

Sokhan said Japan, which  supports similar installations in Laos and Vietnam, covered the cost of the satellite equipment and human-resources development.  

“[The] new systems will cut  flying distance [and] save fuel and time,” he said, adding that, most importantly, it would provide more safety.

According to Norinda Khek, communications and PR director at the Phnom Penh International Airport, the project is being implemented by the Secretariat of State and Civil Aviation and Cambodia Air Traffic Services.

Ho Vandy, co-chairman of the tourism private sector working group, said he had not heard any news or information about the satellite systems for Cambodia’s airports.  

But according to Vandy, it is a good development for tourism because it provides more security and safety to the passengers and tourists at the airport.

“In the tourism working group, we also put on the agenda the security and safety of tourists and passengers,” he said.

Air traffic in Cambodia amounted to about 60 flights a day, Vandy said.

The number of tourist arrivals in Cambodia by air rose by 16.6 per cent over the first 10 months of this year to 1,362,328.

The number of tourist arrivals at the Phnom Penh International Airport rose by 9.5 per cent to 570,819 and the number of arrivals at the Siem Reap International Airport increased by 22.3 per cent to 791,509, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism.

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

Rann Reuy at [email protected]