Phnom Penh: With airlines opening worldwide, there is some very welcome news from the airport authorities as they kick in to a higher, to not only welcome back much needed tourists but also to increase essential freight.
Spokesman for the Secretariat of State for Civil Aviation, Sin Chanserey has spoken to EAC News about the outlook of the airline travel and the biggest priority - that of passenger safety.
He says, "As you know the government close the country, but we had restriction from high-risk countries like Indonesia, Malaysia & the Philippines now the government has decided to reopen the direct flights again from Indonesia, Malaysia & Philippines the rest we do not have any restriction. Our government has eased the time for the diplomat, ambassador & experts so they can arrive Cambodia without a guarantee, but they need to follow the procedures. Secondly for vaccinated tourists we also open for those vaccinated with at least two doses, they go to the designated area, after five days if the government did not find any positive test, they can travel around Cambodia.”
He also spoke of potential safety concerns arising from planes laying dormant for so long.
He stresses, "Even though our industry has been affected by the pandemic safety is not an assumption, we still oversee that aircraft have complied with safety measures & update SOPs & validated personal & technical resources. Safety is still well maintained before & after pandemic.”
He concluded what will be the future of air travel and the requiremenrs for all air travel. He says, "During the reopening my personal opinion is the business model will change. The government has chosen the policy living with Covid, so the requirement for travelling by air is different, every country requires you to have a test to ensure you are not positive, secondly you have to purchase travel insurance, thirdly have to have booking with hotel. The travel time & the cost will change, it will be more expensive than pre pandemic, when you travel to other countries it depends on their measures, after arrival you will be tested, you will then go to your hotel & wait for the result, if your negative you can travel.”
