C
AMBODIA International Airlines (CIA) is looking to buy up to three more Boeing
737s as part of an expansion plan, which will see it add Vientiane to its
routes.
A deal on one second-hand Boeing 737-200 with 110 seats was
nearing finalization as the Post went to press.
Managing Director Udom
Tantiprasongchai toured Europe and the United States hoping to secure deals on
second hand aircraft, said his assistant Jimmy Gao.
He said negotiations
were nearly complete to buy a Boeing 737 from an airline in Miami. He refused to
name the airline or reveal the price of the aircraft.
The airline
currently operates with a solitary 737 on its flights to Bangkok, Singapore,
Hong Kong and Ho Chi Minh City.
Gao said: "We are full of confidence.
Things are getting better and better."
Twice weekly flights to Vientiane,
on Wednesdays and Saturdays will begin on June 8, with equivalent fares to Laos
Aviation of $150 one way, Gao said.
He added that CIA is awaiting
approval from the Vietnamese government to upgrade its service to Ho Chi Minh
City to daily flights from its current two times a week.
Other
international options being examined are flights to Kuala Lumpur, and to the
southern Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Shantou.
The airline is also
planning to launch charter flights to the island resorts of Phuket, on the west
coast of Thailand and Langkawi, on the west coast of Malaysia.
In
addition to the route change, CIA has set up its own offices at all of its
current destinations, including Vientiane, which will be linked by
computer.
Gao said: "We were relying on overseas agents but some
customers complained they were not getting good service from them."
In
March CIA received an order from the government to cease operations just prior
to the July 1 inauguration date for the proposed new national flag carrier Royal
Air Cambodge (RAC).
But with negotiations between the government and
Singapore International Airlines apparently not making progress, airline sources
have said RAC's takeoff date may be months away and some even speculated that
the deal may have completely fallen through.
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