B2B Cambodia sat down with Cyril Girot, CEO and Director General of Cambodia Airports, to learn more about the work VINCI Airports and Cambodia Airports are doing in the Kingdom.
B2B Cambodia: Phnom Penh and Siem Reap were the first international airports under the Cambodia Airports umbrella, and were also the first concessions granted to VINCI Airports overall, starting back in 1995. Could you share a little bit about this journey of how these airports have evolved over the years? What are some of the most significant milestones Cambodia Airports and VINCI Airports have achieved?
Cyril Girot: "It's been a very successful journey with Cambodia, full of achievements. The very first milestone we reached in 1995, our first mission, was to restore the airport facilities. We were actually the first international group to join the country and to take the challenge of substantially investing in Cambodia. First of all, when restoring the airport, we aligned the airport facilities and standards with international ones. Second, we aligned the practices at the airport with those of airlines and other international practices. We actually launched a project on the development of infrastructure, both in Phnom Penh and in Siem Reap. We were given the concession of the airport in Siem Reap in 2001, so we basically expanded the facilities, such as the runway, the airside facilities, the equipment, the terminals; and we built a brand new extension of the Siem Reap Airport.
When we were given the concession of the Phnom Penh airport in 1995, the fréquentation (number of visitors) of the airport was roughly 600,000 passengers. When we were given the concession of the airport in Siem Reap in 2001, there were less than 200,000 passengers—later we reached a traffic of 4 million passengers in 2019. The third airport [we operate] is the Sihanoukville Airport. When we were given the concession of Sihanoukville Airport in 2006, there were roughly no passengers, but we managed to bring the traffic up to 1.7 million passenger in 2019. So, we've brought development to the airports, in turn developing tourism in the country, and, of course, developing the country's economic activity.
B2B Cambodia: Cambodia Airports recently signed on to operate the Techo International Airport. Can you tell us a little bit about that and how important it is for Cambodia Airports?
Cyril Girot: “This year, 2025, we are actually celebrating our 30th anniversary of signing [our first] airport concession contract with the Royal Government of Cambodia. These were 30 years of a long standing and very successful partnership. Coinciding with this anniversary, we are honoured that the Royal Government of Cambodia, together with the owner of the new airport, have decided to entrust us with the role of airport operator of the Techo International Airport. So that's why 2025 is going to be a quick start and a new era for us. We're very excited about this new adventure, this new chapter for Cambodia Airports. Of course, we project ourselves into the new airport landscape, and we'll be eager to share our expertise with our new partners, to develop the expertise and knowledge we've got for the best airport operations, and the best airport experience for our customers, both airlines and passengers.”
B2B Cambodia: Can you speak about Cambodia Airports' collaborative efforts with various airlines to enhance connectivity and introduce more direct routes for Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville?
Cyril Girot: “Our team's objectives are to determine, but also to secure, new route opportunities, and, obviously, to expand the connectivity of our airports. To do so, our experts identify and analyse opportunities by gathering and analysing international route market environment data. That's why our route development team's expertise, knowledge and know-how, contributes mainly to the promotion of a destination. That's their job, to develop the connectivity, develop route networks, and to bring as many routes and as many flights [to our airports] as we can."
Watch Part 2 of our Exclusive Interview with Cyril Girot on Cambodia Airports and VINCI Airports:
B2B Cambodia: I want to ask you a little bit about sustainability as well. At the most recent World Aviation Festival, you talked extensively about the sustainable developments that VINCI and Cambodia Airports have been doing. Can you explain why you think looking at sustainability and focusing on sustainable development is so important?
Cyril Girot: "At VINCI Airports, our priority is to decarbonise our operations. The decarbonisation of airport operations is something that inspires all our projects, all our investments, and all our innovations. At our airport in Cambodia, we're actually heading towards greener activity and decarbonisation through LED revamping—we changed all our lights to LED lights. Second, regarding the equipment we use, we are progressively replacing fossil fueling equipment with electrical equipment.
Our second priority is the preservation of biodiversity in the natural environment, for which we have also had a lot of projects. The first one I'm thinking about is the mapping we did of the fauna and flora at the Sihanoukville Airport, to better understand the biodiversity of the place, and, of course, to be able to engage in some action to better preserve it. The last project I will mention concerns the circular economy; it's a project we launched here at the Phnom Penh International Airport on waste segregation. We organised a platform dedicated to segregating waste, for better recycling practise. This was a project we invested a lot in. Just to let you know, we organised—within VINCI—the VINCI Environmental Awards [across all VINCI airports] in the world, and this project that we headed here in Phnom Penh was awarded by VINCI Group as being one of the best environmental projects in our overall group."
B2B Cambodia: Can you share any updates on the Sihanoukville Airport's development? And can you comment on the airport's positioning within a coastal province and what you see for its future growth?
Cyril Girot: "Sihanoukville Airport has been reliant, until 2019, on the Chinese market. Today, the pace of the recovery of the Chinese market is pretty steady, I would say.
The recovery of traffic at Sihanoukville Airport has been slower than at Phnom Penh airport. However, we, of course, identified many opportunities offered by Preah Sihanouk province. The first one concerns tourism. With its very nice and beautiful islands, the coastal area, its seashores, [the province] is a gem in the region that we can promote. We have also identified opportunities for trade. Sihanoukville is a place of trade with a lot of pretty good infrastructure, such as the [Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville] expressway, our airport, the port… so we can leverage this to develop activity at the airport and the place overall.
“This is fully in line with our philosophy. We are long-term investors… we've been present here, developing and investing in this country for 30 years. We've been partners of the government for 30 years, participating in the development of tourism, of the economy, etc., and that's why today we still aim for development over decades. On a different note, regarding the promotion of destination and routes, our teams have been working to develop Cambodia as a destination, Phnom Penh as a destination, and Preah Sihanouk province, by exploring connectivity with other underserved markets. I can cite the recent launch of a direct route with Kazakhstan, bringing new types of international visitors to Preah Sihanouk province, in addition to the other types of passengers and international visitors we already had in Sihanoukville over the past years.”
B2B Cambodia: What are Cambodia Airports' long-term strategic goals, and how would you say they align with some of Cambodia's national development goals?
Cyril Girot: "Today, the Royal Government of Cambodia attests that we brought development [to the country], and that we have the capacity to bring more activity into the country, both on the passenger side and in cargo, air freight. This is pretty key for the country. We noticed that during COVID, when our airport [did not have many] passengers because all airlines were grounded, bringing in cargo was still pretty key for every country, [as they carried] vaccines, medical equipment, etc. Our airport always remained open to welcome any flights that needed to come to the country when it was granted by international air traffic.
At VINCI airports, we are powered by a passionate, innovative team of experts, and we aspire to revitalise our legacy by propelling new dynamics, focusing on our positive abilities, and also environmental and social progress, along the same trajectory that we've had until since the beginning, when we first arrived in Cambodia in 1995."
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