PHNOM PENH: The Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport (SAI) will start its official commercial operation today after the airport flight demonstrations and tests of check-in demo, passenger boarding and landing as well as many other necessary procedures have been made successfully.

SAI has 38 berths and is able to handle 7 million passengers a year, and the figure will rise to 12 million passengers annually from 2040.

Additionally, the airport can handle 10,000 tonnes of air cargo per year from 2023 and 26,000 tonnes a year from 2040, as well as 65,800 flights per year from 2023 and up to 112,700 flights annually from 2040.

As planned, on Dec. 1, 2023, SAI will be officially inaugurated under the presidency of Samdech Moha Borvor Thipadei Hun Manet, Prime Minister of Cambodia.

Construction of Siem Reap-Angkor International Airport began in March 2020 with an investment of approximately $1.1 billion by the Angkor International Airport Investment (Cambodia) Co., Ltd.

According to the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation's report, Cambodia registered 3.4 million air travelers during the first eight months of 2023, a year-on-year increase of 180 percent.

Tourism is one of the four pillars supporting Cambodia's economy. The country attracted up to 6.61 million international tourists in 2019, generating a gross revenue of $4.92 billion, according to the Ministry of Tourism.