After nearly seven decades of serving as the country’s main international gateway, Phnom Penh International Airport – Cambodia’s first and oldest airport – is bidding farewell to the world, paving the way for a bigger and more modern airport.
If all goes as planned, the Techo International Airport – located to the south of the capital, Phnom Penh, and about 20 kilometers from the city center – will begin operations on September 9, 2025, ushering in a new era of air travel that the government hopes will help boost development and tourism.
“If we look back to the time Pochentong International Airport operated in the Sungkum Reastr Niyum period, it played a crucial part in Cambodia’s growth, especially during the late 1950s and early 1960s, by contributing to the country’s infrastructure,” said Keo Duong, a history lecturer at the Royal University of Phnom Penh.
Inaugurated in 1959, Phnom Penh International Airport – known to the locals as Pochentong Airport – has witnessed ups and downs since gaining independence from France six years earlier. It welcomed high-profile world leaders, such as French President Charles de Gaulle, who visited Cambodia in 1966, followed by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1967.
Seav Sapphire, a retiree, recalled the festivity as he joined thousands of Cambodians in welcoming the arrival of the French president at the airport gate.
“I was 19. It was an unforgettable day for me — the city was full of excitement. General Charles de Gaulle was given a warm welcome. The scene was incredible. I remember that around 200,000 people stood by the road from Pochentong Street to the Royal Palace,” said Sapphire, now 78.
From turbulence to revival
As the country slid into a civil war in 1970, the airport hosted aircrafts delivering U.S. economic and military aid to prop up Lon Nol’s Khmer Republic regime which was fighting a losing battle as the Khmer Rouge rebels closed in.
After the Khmer Rouge took power in April 1975, the airport became a witness to one of the bloody episodes during that era. According to historical accounts, Cambodian students who were studying abroad arrived by plane, drawn by Khmer Rouge’s propaganda to return home to rebuild the country after the war. But, as soon as they set foot on the tarmac, they were taken away, never to be seen or heard again. Once in a while, the airport would receive flights carrying visitors from countries the Khmer Rouge had ties with at the time.
During the 1980s, as Cambodia was struggling to rebuild itself, while hit with sanctions imposed by the West, the Pochentong airport came back to life – but with limitations – to serve airlines mostly from the Soviet bloc. One of them was Aeroflot regularly transporting Cambodian students studying in the former Soviet Union.
The airport became a scene of jubilee and hope when on November 14, 1991, then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk returned from exile following the signing of the Paris Peace Accord on October 23 that year. The revival of the airport gathered pace with the successive arrival of planes carrying UNTAC personnel and peacekeepers, and of commercial flights, connecting Cambodia to the world once again after years of devastating isolation.
Recognizing the potential of the aviation sector, the Cambodian government signed an agreement with French-Malaysian joint venture Société Concessionaire d’Aéroport (SCA) in July 1995, granting it the right to operate and upgrade the airport.
“In 30 years, it (SCA) developed the (Phnom Penh International) airport, multiplying traffic by 20, from 300,000 passengers in 1995 to six million as of today,” the company said in a statement marking the 30th anniversary of its operation in July this year.
A new era of mixed emotions
According to the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), Techo International Airport will begin operations on September 9, 2025. It is not yet clear what the future holds for the current airport after that date. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hun Manet quickly shot down rumors that the site would turn into a saleable prime property.
“There’s never been a decision to sell this airport, and there won’t be one,” he said on May 16. He asserted that the airport land will remain with the state, and a final decision will be made at the inauguration of Techo International Airport.
As travelers come and go, the residential areas around the Phnom Penh airport have gradually transformed. More roads have been built and connectivity has improved. Local businesses have sprung up to serve the growing community. For the residents, this has brought new hope and opportunity.
“The infrastructure in the community near the airport has improved a lot,” said Mach, a resident living near the airport. “I’ve been living here since 1979, when I was just a kid. I feel melancholic knowing that it’s going to close in a few months.”
“I’ve been selling drinks and snacks here for about five years now, and it’s really supported me and my family,” said Kosal, a 45-year-old street vendor near the airport’s exit gate.
“It’s sad to know I won’t be able to run this small business anymore after it closes,” he said, adding that he would have to move his business to another place to earn a living.
Sim Chanchakriya, a 22-year-old resident who used to enjoy the lights flooding from the airport into her neighborhood, said: “I can’t imagine how dark my house will be when the airport stops operating. The airport lights always light up my house at night—it is so sad to even think about it.”
Note: This story was produced by the batch 23’s year-two students at the DMC as the assignments of the class ‘News Writing and Reporting’.
