Talking Travel: Beijing-Phnom Penh Flight Announced; Beijing-Hawaii Route Suspended
Good news, Cambodiaphiles! On Tuesday it was announced that a direct flight route will be opened between Beijing and Cambodia's capital of Phnom Penh starting in November, as reported by the Khmer Times.
Air China will be the first provider to service the new route, making the journey three times per week via their Airbus A320 aircraft.
At 1.2 million, Chinese tourists made up the majority of visitors to Cambodia last year, a 46 percent increase compared to 2016. That being said, the new route is only likely to see a further influx in Chinese tourists head to the Southeast Asian country. Cambodia is often heralded for its stunning ancient architecture and colorful temples though still scarred by the catastrophic consequences of communist rule under dictator Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in the mid to late '70s.
In other flight news, Hawaiian Airlines is to suspend its route from Beijing to Honolulu, its only Chinese service. The route will continue until after the October Golden Week holiday, making its last trip from Beijing on Oct 12, according to Air Transport World.
The carrier has said that they look to instead run one-stop flights between Beijing and other Asian cities such as Seoul, Osaka, and Tokyo's Haneda and Narita airports with the hope that they'll eventually reopen the direct flight route.
The current route was opened in 2014 and runs three times per week. Hawaiian Airlines described that the Beijing route would be deployed elsewhere “to pursue other opportunities consistent with Hawaiian’s expansion plans.”
The news comes shortly after American Airlines also announced that they'd not only be suspending their Beijing but also their Shanghai to Chicago flights in October. The reason for the suspension was poor sales, or as the airline put it themselves, them being "colossal loss makers" on account of the price of fuel having increased by 30 percent in the past year, according to Skift.
Photos: holeinthedonut.com
