Air France returns to Cambodia
The inaugural flight AF 274 Paris - Phnom Penh landed today at Phnom Penh international airport. After 37 years absence, Air France is once again offering 3 weekly return scheduled flights between Paris and Cambodia.
Pierre-Henri Gourgeon, CEO of Air France KLM declared: “We are proud to be the first European airline to once again operate scheduled services between Europe and Cambodia, as part of our growth strategy on routes to Asia where we are increasing capacity.”
He also added: "These three new weekly flights will promote economic and cultural ties with this buoyant region and also meet a strong demand from our leisure customers."
These flights are operated by Airbus A340-300 (275 seats including 30 in Business, 21 in Premium Voyageur and 224 in the Voyageur / Economy cabin), then – as from 9 May 2011 - by Boeing 777-200 (309 seats including 35 in Business, 24 in Premium Voyageur and 250 in the Voyageur / Economy cabin).
This new route should also help boost the opportunities for transporting goods (fresh produce, textiles, etc.) between France and Cambodia. Air France will offer hold space with a weekly cargo capacity of up to 40 tonnes.
The launch of the Paris – Phnom Penh route is part of the Air France KLM group’s growth strategy with a 5.7% increase in capacity, with the launch of 11 new destinations in 2011: Phnom Penh, Bata, Billund, Freetown, Lima, Monrovia, Orlando and Cancun for Air France, and Xiamen, Miami and Aalborg for KLM.
The flight schedules enable customers travelling from Cambodia to access the network of over 898 destinations served by Air France, KLM and its SkyTeam alliance partners.
Flight schedules between Paris and Phnom Penh:
Paris-Charles de Gaulle / Phnom Penh
AF 274, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays
leaves at 7:30pm, arrives in Bangkok at 11:50am the following day
leaves the same day for Phnom Penh at 1:15pm, arrives at 2:30pm
Phnom Penh / Paris-Charles de Gaulle
AF 273, on Tuesdays, Thursday and Saturdays
leaves at 8:05pm, arrives in Bangkok at 9:20pm,
leaves the same day for Paris at 10 :55pm, arrives at 6:05am the following day
The arrival of this flight coincides with the fifteenth anniversary celebrations of SCA (Société concessionnaire des Aéroports), a subsidiary of VINCI Airports and managing company of Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville airports.