Cambodia and Israel signed a memorandum of understanding last week for direct flights between both countries, according to the spokesman of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA).
“Under the MoU, airline companies would start the feasibility study of the direct flights and also how they could cooperate by code sharing,” said SSCA’s Sin Chansereyvutha. “While direct flights could take some time to eventuate, code sharing is the current priority under the MoU.”
Chansereyvutha said the number of Israeli tourists visiting Cambodia was still small, compared to ASEAN countries, China, Europe and the US. “But at this stage we are open for airlines to code share with Israeli carriers to bring their tourists to ASEAN countries, transiting through Cambodia,” he added.
Ho Vandy, secretary-general of Cambodia National Tourism Alliance, welcomed the move, which he said would offer tourists more options. “I think both direct flights from Israel to Cambodia and code sharing would benefit us,” said Vandy. “It is in line with the government’s open sky policy and opens the gateway for more airlines to operate here.”
Cambodia received some 7,900 Israeli tourists in the first six months of 2017, up 36 percent compared with the same period last year, said the Ministry of Tourism.
This article was originally published in the Khmer Times.
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