CAMBODIA Angkor Air has received Cambodian accreditation to operate after a previous audit revealed it had not been approved as an operator under domestic law.

The airline – 51 percent owned by the Cambodian government, with the remainder held by Vietnam Airlines – previously flew under Vietnam Airlines’ air operator certificate, rather than as opposed to the Cambodian licensing body the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation.

SSCA Cabinet Chief Long Chheng said the airline had been granted Cambodian certification.

“The CAA has now fulfilled many of the technical procedures we require,” he said.

The airline currently operates two ATR-72 aircraft and an Airbus 321, with up to 16 daily flights connecting Siem Reap, Phnom Penh and Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City.

SSCA Undersecretary of State Soy Sokhan said the company’s purchase of two more planes would help it expand its flights in the region.

“We plan to begin flights to South Korea, China and Japan late this year or in early 2011, whenever the new aircraft arrive,” he said.