10 February 2003KUALA LUMPUR - Phnom Penh-based Mekong Airlines (M8) finally took to the skies with the short Phnom Penh to Siem Reap run on 28 January and a special evening service to Kuala Lumpur to ferry home Malaysian delegates who attended the ASEAN Tourism Forum.
Despite the rather inauspicious start to its Malaysian services, M8 general sales agent in Malaysia, Mekong Airline Services, is confident traffic flow will pick up.
Its managing director Chung Leik Kok said bookings were encouraging and he is receiving good support from the local travel agents.
Together they are putting tour packages to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. He is confident the recent rioting would not affect travel to Cambodia.
M8 has four flights a week from Kuala Lumpur to Phnom Penh.
The airline, which is starting its service with just one B737-500 aircraft, is also flying three times weekly to Singapore and Hong Kong.
As M8’s chief executive officer Denzil Sprague told TravelWeekly in Phnom Penh during ATF, Siem Reap will be the main focus point, as currently most of the tourist traffic is to visit Angkor Wat and the various other temples.
On the drawing board is the acquisition of a second B737-500 aircraft, which will then see Mekong Airlines taking off to Taipei, Guangzhou and Shanghai, as well as increasing frequencies to its current destinations.