THE CAMBODIAN Government is planning a major $120 million project to bring Phnom Penh's Pochentong Airport up to international standards.
A contract for upgrading and expanding the airport has been awarded to a joint venture between Dumez-GMT of France and Malaysia's Muhibbah Engineering. Construction is expected to take two-and-a-half years.
Major elements include a new terminal building with a throughput capacity of 600 passengers an hour and construction of a second 3,600 x 45m runway. Upgrades to existing runways and other infrastructure are planned as well as construction of a new cargo terminal.
Forecasts predict that around 3 million passengers could be using Pochentong by 2005, bringing the airport close to its maximum theoretical capacity. A new international airport at Siem Reap in the northwest is therefore planned.
Source: Flight International