Cambodia and Qatar sign direct flight deal

 

 

Cambodia and Qatar have established direct flights aimed at promoting tourism between the Middle East and the tiny Southeast Asian nation, officials said on Wednesday.

 

The agreement was inked on Tuesday between Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani (pictured above, from right to left, respectively), who is on an official two-day visit to Cambodia, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith told AFP.

 

No date has been set for the start of air services between Doha and Phnom Penh, said Mao Havannal, chief of Cambodia's Civil Aviation Authority, adding that experts from both countries were studying potential flight schedules.

 

"When we have new flights, there will be more tourists, more business people and more income in tourism," Mao Havannal said.

 

Tourism is one of the only sources of foreign exchange for impoverished Cambodia, which is struggling to recover after nearly three decades of conflict that ended in 1998.

 

The kingdom, which is known for its famed Angkor Wat temple complex, aims to lure three million tourist arrivals annually by 2010.

 

More than 20 foreign airlines, including Japan Airlines and Dubai-based Emirates, currently operate direct flights to Cambodia, Mao Havannal said.

 

Last December, Air Finland became the first European carrier to fly directly between Cambodia and Europe. (AFP)