PHNOM PENH – A contract with Vietnam Airlines to establish Cambodia’s national carrier is being held up by an ownership split.
Seng Limneou, chairman of the government commission negotiating with the Vietnamese carrier to set up the airline, said, “We continue to negotiate. The contract has never been disclosed and will remain confidential.”
A source told the Phmon Penh Post that the government would hold 51 percent of the proposed carrier, Cambodia Angkor Air, with the rest held by the state-owned Vietnamese carrier.
Cambodia’s previous national airline, Royal Air Cambodge, shut down in 2001.
The proposed airline will operate ATR aircraft to regional destinations but has ambitions to purchase Airbus planes for long haul services.
“We may end up losing some money, but we won’t be allowed to lose the sums that the previous national carrier lost,†said a government civil aviation spokesman.
