PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet on Monday inaugurated a major new airport to serve the capital, Phnom Penh, and boost tourism and foreign investment.
Techo International Airport is a three-runway facility that replaces the nearly 70-year-old Phnom Penh International Airport, which had a single runway.
The new $2 billion airport, in Kandal province, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of Phnom Penh. It began operating in September. It is a joint venture between the Cambodian government and Overseas Cambodian Investment Corp.
Hun Manet said he hoped the new airport would be a driving force in attracting more tourists and investors to Cambodia, “more than before the arrival of COVID-19.”
The new airport is initially expected to be able to accommodate 13 million passengers, but its capacity will increase to 30 million after 2030 and up to 50 million in 2050.
The immediate prospects for a surge in foreign tourists have been overshadowed by the highly publicized death of a young South Korean man who was reportedly tricked into working at one of Cambodia’s online scam hubs.
Many of the workers there are kept as virtual slaves to carry out online fraud in what is a multi-billion dollar organized crime activity. The illegal industry was exposed last week when the United States and Britain enacted sanctions against the organizers of a major Cambodian gang, and its alleged leader was indicted in federal court in New York.
Tourism suffered another blow in July, when Cambodia fought a five-day conflict with neighboring Thailand. He was detained by a ceasefire, but tensions remain high.
Cambodia received around 4 million foreign tourists between January and August this year, Hun Manet said in September. Last year it received 6.7 million, an increase of 23% compared to 2023.
It is Cambodia’s second major new airport in two years. In October 2023, Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport opened to help serve Cambodia’s most popular tourist attraction, the centuries-old temple complex of Angkor Wat.