AirAsia has been inexpensively connecting the Kingdom to Malaysia since 2005, with daily routes between Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh beginning on November 1 of that year and Kuala Lumpur to Siem Riep beginning the month after. Now, the low-cost carrier will be expanding its service, resuming twice-daily flights between Phnom Penh and Kula Lumpur and adding another flight a day between Siem Reap and Kuala Lumpur.

“AirAsia has had seven weekly between Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh and between Kuala Lumpur and Siem Reap. Beginning on November 22, we will double that frequency to 14 weekly flights,” Daphne Cheah Ui Jen, public relation manager of AirAsia, said.

“Both routes have different passenger demographics,” she added. “The Phnom Penh flight is more for business travellers, whereas Siem Reap flight is mostly dominated by leisure travellers of various nationalities.”

Combined passengers of those two routes reached about 300,000 in 2012, with expectations of growth this year.

“For the first six months of 2013 compare with 2012, total bookings for Phnom Penh flights reduced by three per cent . . . However, our Siem Reap-Kuala Lumpur flights had an increase in bookings of 24 per cent compared with the first six months of 2012,” Daphne said.

She sees even more potential in the Cambodian market.

“Based on the years we have flown to Cambodia, foreigners are our main contributor to this market, representing four times as many passengers as locals. Our plans in Cambodia includes aggressive marketing campaigns and introducing competitive fares to drive more tourists to Cambodia and to boost locals’ interest in travelling domestically,” Daphne said.

AirAsia is the leading low-cost carrier in Asia, servicing 85 destinations. In just 11 years of operations, AirAsia has carried over 180 million guests and grown its fleet from just two aircraft to approximately 137. The airline today is proud to be a truly ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) airline with established operations based in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines servicing a network stretching across all ASEAN countries, China, India and Australia.