CAMBODIA - reopens coastal town's airport in hopes of boosting tourism

International Herald Tribune, january 15th, 2007

The airport at Sihanoukville, Cambodia's main coastal city, reopened Monday after renovations, with hopes high that it will further spur travel and the country's burgeoning tourism industry.
A Soviet-made Antonov-24 plane belonging to a locally owned airline company landed at the Sihanoukville airport following an opening ceremony, said Norinda Khek, spokesman for Societe Concessionnaire des Aeroports, or SCA, a subsidiary of the French construction group Vinci.

He said the plane flew from Siem Reap province, Cambodia's main tourist hub, and that it carried 11 passengers, who were airline staff flying on the promotional trip. It was the first landing at the airport in the last three years, he added. The airport, located about 185 kilometers (115 miles) southwest of the capital Phnom Penh, is expected to serve as the first air link between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap, the home to famed Angkor temples, said deputy tourism minister Thong Khon.

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