AirAsia ramps up expansion with Cambodia flights from May

(March 18): AirAsia’s Cambodia unit kicked off ticket sales for domestic flights as the budget carrier seeks to expand across the region and tap into a resurgence in travel demand.

The joint venture between AirAsia parent Capital A Bhd and Cambodian hospitality firm Sivilai Asia will see its maiden flight between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap on May 2, according to a statement on Monday. The company will service routes between the two cities, as well as to Sihanoukville, using two Airbus A320 aircraft, it said.

The inaugural flight will take off more than a year after the plan was announced and will mark the group’s first expansion into a new market since the pandemic battered its finances and forced it to close units in India and Japan.

The airline, which has ambitions to launch the world’s first low-cost network carrier, is already looking at other opportunities in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. AirAsia founder Tan Sri Tony Fernandes has indicated interest in starting…