China's Hong Kong Airlines launches direct flight to Cambodia

A passenger aircraft of China's Hong Kong Airlines touched down at Phnom Penh international airport on Saturday afternoon, marking its start of thrice-weekly flight service to the Cambodian capital.

The Airbus A320 aircraft was welcomed by a traditional water salute upon its arrival.

Christian Mosebach, representative of Hong Kong Airlines (Cambodia), said strong economic and tourism ties between Hong Kong and Cambodia encouraged the airline to begin regular flights to Cambodia.

"Currently, we operate three flights a week to Phnom Penh and we are looking at increasing frequency, depending on the booking situation," he told Xinhua.

"The flight arriving from Hong Kong today is fully booked, 177 passengers, and the flight going out has around 133 passengers, so about 75 percent occupancy, which is very good for a launch flight," he added.

Johnny Wan, deputy general manager at the airline's business development department, said last month that the airline's flights to Cambodia would offer more choices and greater convenience to passengers travelling to and from Cambodia.

The airline operates flights on the Hong Kong-Phnom Penh route every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.

Hong Kong Airlines is the third Hong Kong to Cambodia service, adding to Dragonair and Hong Kong Express. Enditem