New SR-Myanmar flights set to take off

CAMBODIA’S JC Internat iona l Airlines plans to launch new flights between the Kingdom and Myanmar, according to t he airline’s COO and Chief Pilot Anupama Pathirana.

Anupama Pathirana told Myanmar newspaper The Eleven this week: “We plan to launch new flights between Siem Reap and Yangon and Mandalay.”

The airline on Saturday launched t hree direct flights a week from Phnom Penh to Yangon using t he Airbus A320 that can seat 180 passengers.

The company also flies to Mandalay via Macau from Phnom Penh.

“We are prov iding ser v ices to about one million passengers each year and plan to expand our fleet and flights schedules.

“Our ser v ices cover over 50 per cent of markets in the Southeast Asia and South Asia regions. We are expecting to run over 50 flights schedules wit h 20 aircrafts before t he end of 2020,” he said.

Sin Chan Serey v ut ha, Secretariat of Civ i l Av iation spokesman, welcomed t he plan, but said t he route did not seem to be i n high demand yet.

“I don’t k now how JC studies t he market, as t he route is not a good market yet as t he t rend a nd att ract iveness of tour ism, invest ment a nd t rade [bet ween Cambodia and Myanmar] i s st i l l l i mited,” he sa id, adding t hat t he most popula r routes for foreig n tour ists a re f rom Thaila nd, China a nd Singapore.

However, he expects t he new flight to encourage Burmese tourists to v isit Cambodia.

“I see some benefit in tourism. If he brings more tourists, we will increase arriva ls and income,” he said.

Cambodia Associat ion of Travel Agents adv isor Hor Va ndy ag reed t hat t he new flight would boost t he number of tour ists to Cambodia.

“This is an at t ract ive flig ht dest inat ion because we want g uests f rom t hird count r ies who v isit Myanmar come to v isit Cambodia in bot h Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

“European tourists a lso want to v isit Myanmar, and when there are a lso flights with Cambodia, it will bring t hose tourists to the Kingdom,” he said.