Senior officials from the Ministry of Tourism held a March 3 ceremony to welcome the first China Eastern Airlines flight from Shanghai to Siem Reap province.

Ministry secretary of state and spokesman Top Sopheak led a delegation from the ministry, along with members of the provincial administration and representatives from Cambodia Airports -- a joint venture which manages the Kingdom's airports -- to welcome the Airbus A320 when it touched down.

Flight MU2091 carried 132 Chinese passengers.

“China Eastern will fly directly to Siem Reap province three times a week – on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday,” said Sopheak.

This year, Cambodia expects to receive around four million international tourists, 800,000 to one million of them Chinese.

Siem Reap expects to receive around 30 per cent of the Chinese visitors. At present, Siem Reap International Airport sees an average of 250 flights a week and an average of 1,700 to 18,000 international tourists a day.