Charter flights arranged for SEA Games team
THE government – following coordination between the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA) and Cambodia Airways – will provide a special aircraft to transport national athletes and delegates to the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in the Vietnamese capital Hanoi later this month.
The decision to provide free transportation, including return flights, came at the behest of Prime Minister Hun Sen, who made the suggestion on April 28 while addressing the delegates of several sports at Koh Pich
Convention and Exhibition Centre in Phnom Penh.
The premier said at the time that he wanted to provide safe and comfortable flights for all national athletes and delegates during their mission to seek medals in the 33 different sports.
In a May 2 statement, the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia (NOCC) who are responsible for organising and leading the Cambodian delegates to the SEA Games, expressed great excitement and gratitude to Hun Sen and Cambodia Airways for facilitating this important journey.
“The NOCC – as well as the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport – have had difficulty organising the travel of all athletes and delegates. Because the hosts have set different arrival times for different sports, arriving two days before competition and leaving a day after meant our timetables were hard to match with flight schedules.
“This would have meant complex flight paths and additional layovers, which would have led to some of our athletes arriving tired and weakened from their flights,” the statement read.
“Thankfully, Prime Minister Hun Sen has solved this problem by arranging charter flights. In addition, all checkins and departures will be made through the VIP terminal,” it added.
The NOCC, chaired by Minister of Tourism Thong Khon – who is also head of the SEA Games delegates – stated: “On behalf of the delegates and the athletes, we are very pleased and thankful for these comfortable flights, which mean our athletes will maintain their physical and mental health. This will help them to perform as competitively as they can, and hopefully win more medals for the Kingdom than ever before!”