66.1 pct of work on Chinese-built new airport for Cambodian capital completed: PM

KANDAL, Cambodia, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Some 66.1 percent of the construction work on a Chinese-built new Phnom Penh international airport, officially known as the Techo International Airport, has been completed so far, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said on Tuesday.

Invested by the Cambodia Airport Investment Co., Ltd, the 1.5-billion-U.S.-dollar airport was being constructed by the China Construction Third Engineering Bureau Group Co., Ltd. on an area of 2,600 hectares, about 20 km from the capital Phnom Penh.

Work on the 4F-class airport, which is the world's highest class, began in June 2020.

"Next year, this airport will be put into commercial operations, and it will be the largest airport in Cambodia," Hun Manet said during a visit to the project site.

He said the airport project has so far cost 961 million U.S. dollars.

"This airport will provide tremendous benefits to the people of Cambodia in the long run, creating a lot of jobs for them," he said. "It will be a catalyst for Cambodia's economic growth, tourism and logistics development."

Currently, the project employed nearly 3,500 engineers and technical personnel on-site, including Cambodian and Chinese workers.

Hun Manet praised them for working together to develop the huge airport, which is a symbol of Cambodia's rapid development.

He said the airport project is also a venue for skill transfer from foreign engineers and workers to their local counterparts.

Mao Havannall, minister in charge of Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said when the construction is completed, the Techo International Airport will become the main gateway for international passengers to Cambodia.

"The 4F-class Techo International Airport in the first phase will be officially put into operations in the first half of 2025," he said.

Havannall said the airport will be capable of handling 13 million passengers a year in the first phase, 30 million passengers in the second phase after 2030, and up to 50 million passengers in 2050 in the third phase.