Cambodia Forms New Flag Carrier With Indonesian Firms

Windsor Genova - AHN News Writer, November 23, 2007 10:25 p.m. EST

Chiang Mai, Thailand (AHN) - Cambodia expects to have a new national airline in six months after Phnom Pehn signed a joint venture deal with two Indonesian companies to form its flag carrier.

The Thailand-based Burmese news website The Irrawaddy reported on Saturday that Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sok An and officials of the Rajawali Group and PT Ancora International signed a memorandum of understanding to set up the airline company.

Cambodia has no national flag carrier since the Royal Air Cambodge closed shop due to stiff competition and mismanagement more than five years ago.

The Indonesian partners are in cigarette, cement, telecommunications, hotel, resort, mining and airline business. They will hold a 49 percent stake in the still unnamed airline with the Cambodian government owning the rest. But the foreign partners, who will provide the capital, will get 70 percent of the profits and Phnom Pehn 30 percent.

Rajawali Group chairman Peter Sondakh said the new airline will be competitive with its better planes and better service. PT Ancora International managing director Vichit Ith said the new airline will support Cambodia's tourism industry.

Cambodia's tourism ministry said tourist arrivals in the country will reach 1.7 million this year. From January to September, 1.4 million tourists arrived in Cambodia, 19 percent more than the same period last year.