New Cambodian carrier Tonlé Sap Airlines will launch scheduled operations on January 21, with a daily flight between Siem Reap and Taipei Taoyuan International. The airline, named after the combined lake and river system of major importance to the Asian country, has acquired a single Boeing 737-300 on long-term dry lease from UK carrier Astraeus Airlines for the new service, as well as to provide charter connections to Luang Prabang in Laos and various destinations in China. Its business model is based primarily around transporting tourists to Siem Reap, home to the Angkor Wat temple, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) heritage site, and it will be the sole operator on the route, according to Flightbase (January 14-20).
IATA BSP data shows that over 85,000 O+D passengers travelled between Cambodia and Taiwan between November 2009 and November 2010 with EVA Air the market leader with a 54 per cent share. Tonlé Sap will seek to offer competitive fares and not just battle for existing capacity, but also create new traffic on a sector that has an average one way of over USD470. It is also attempting to differentiate itself from existing local operators by offering a higher-level of service and improved reliability thanks to additional technical support from Astraeus Airlines.
Looking ahead Tonlé Sap plans to expand its scheduled network, upgrading the charter link to Luang Prabang to take advantage of growing traffic to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, as well as introducing regular connections to Hangzhou, Nanjing and Shenzhen in China; Utapao in Thailand and Hanoi in Vietnam.
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