Sokha Helicopter Airline opens in Cambodia
New Cambodian helicopter airline Sokha has begun daily helicopter services for the wealthy between several destinations in Cambodia, local media said on Thursday.
The new airline was officially launched here on Wednesday, during a ceremony presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An at the site of a newly-built 500-square-meter heliport, said Chinese- language newspaper the Sin Chew Daily.
Sokha Airline is a branch of Sokimex Company Ltd, said Airline Manager Dy Vichea, adding that the airline's purpose is to offer national and international tourists flight services.
It has six helicopters, including two Ecureuil 550 A2 helicopters which can carry five passengers, and one Robison R44 helicopter which can carry three passengers, he added.
Sokha will cover six routes daily, including Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh to Siem Reap town, Phnom Penh to Battambang town, Phnom Penh to Poipet, Phnom Penh to Bavet and Phnom Penh to Bokor.
One way flights from Phnom Penh to Poipet cost 1,100 U.S. dollars per passenger, while to Bokor Mountain it costs 2,536 U.S. dollars, and Sihanoukville 700 U.S. dollars.
The rates may seem quite high, said Sok Kong, the airline's chairman who is also president of Sokimex Company Ltd. But he said that he believes that wealthy people will be willing to pay for the convenience and pleasure of flying in a helicopter.
Sokha Airline offers high-efficiency and high-speed services while also providing a humanitarian service, for example in remote areas in times of flooding and other natural disasters, said Deputy Prime Minster Sok An.
He stressed that the airline service can contribute to economic growth and benefit the tourism industry and it is a reflection of investors' confidence in the country.
Source: Xinhua
The new airline was officially launched here on Wednesday, during a ceremony presided over by Deputy Prime Minister Sok An at the site of a newly-built 500-square-meter heliport, said Chinese- language newspaper the Sin Chew Daily.
Sokha Airline is a branch of Sokimex Company Ltd, said Airline Manager Dy Vichea, adding that the airline's purpose is to offer national and international tourists flight services.
It has six helicopters, including two Ecureuil 550 A2 helicopters which can carry five passengers, and one Robison R44 helicopter which can carry three passengers, he added.
Sokha will cover six routes daily, including Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville, Phnom Penh to Siem Reap town, Phnom Penh to Battambang town, Phnom Penh to Poipet, Phnom Penh to Bavet and Phnom Penh to Bokor.
One way flights from Phnom Penh to Poipet cost 1,100 U.S. dollars per passenger, while to Bokor Mountain it costs 2,536 U.S. dollars, and Sihanoukville 700 U.S. dollars.
The rates may seem quite high, said Sok Kong, the airline's chairman who is also president of Sokimex Company Ltd. But he said that he believes that wealthy people will be willing to pay for the convenience and pleasure of flying in a helicopter.
Sokha Airline offers high-efficiency and high-speed services while also providing a humanitarian service, for example in remote areas in times of flooding and other natural disasters, said Deputy Prime Minster Sok An.
He stressed that the airline service can contribute to economic growth and benefit the tourism industry and it is a reflection of investors' confidence in the country.
Source: Xinhua
7 comments:
The sad part is. Many wealthy (stolen money from the Cambodian people) Cambodians could afford this without a blink of an eye. This is how divided Cambodia is. It is a begging nation that have people with millions and millions of dollars, while the majority suffers.
It sounds fishy and wrong. I am not talking about the fare nor the services. It's capitalism, they can do whatever they want as long as it's honest and legal. Like KI's comment on top of the headline, doesn anyone has stories to share with me regarding the relationship between the conglomerate Sokimex and he government, I mean the government involvement in the business of Sokimex. May be someone should investigate it. I suspect there were some extortion or it will happen base on what is being grafted in this new company.
Dy Vichea is the son of Hok Lundy. This company is a jointventure between two of the most mafia-style family of the Kingdom: Sok Kong and Hok Lundy.
Although such a business is good and needed for the development of the country, this is the shame that it is done by such people.
Don't worry about it. This business concept is bound to fail. There may be rich people who can afford this service but these people are usually also government people who use government aircraft already anyway. After a short time, when the novelty of this has worn off, they will just ride in their limousines to Sihanoukville, or fly a government helicopter to
Battambank, etc. Foreigner will most certainly not use this at these over-the-top prices. Cambodia can't even run its own airline, let alone a service for pampered rich people.
No wonder why Sok Kong's business is doing so well. An active Government high ranking official, Sok An, presiding over (not appearing as guess of honor) the opening ceremony of a privately own company?
I remember reading an article written by an editor, Singaporean, of one of the ASIA business magazines, describing Sok Kong as the richest man in the Kingdom owning the biggest conglomerate in the country. WOW!
Frankly, I am not worry about the success or failure of it. I am not gaining nor losing anything. A business that goes by the book obeys the laws, maintains good ethical conduct and honest should deserve every success. I felt that this is not the case. I afraid that our beloved poor people will suffer from its conduct. Sok An and Sok kong already hinted how they can do to pamper and channel the money to this company, more money than we can imagine. If the service is stalled for not having customers the government will pay for it, using it for operation humanitarian or rescue mission (even they are not equipped with gears for such), instead of using government resources, so that the money can be extorted to finance the rich. Remember these people can generate benefit from ghosts. I have learned that this government having these bad habits called corruption. This government always finds ways to spend money on themselves and their family trees. That's one of the reasons why after billions and billions of dollars of donations, the gap of inequality keeps getting wider, the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer (the rich are sucking the poor dry, arranged by the government).
All of these corrution are true!
The Rich getting Richer!
The Poor has no food to eat!
Hun Sen did kill Hok Lundy.
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