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Talk about a tropical paradise
of a different kind: Cambodia (or Pre_h Réachéanachâk
Kâmp_chéa, as its official name goes) or most notably its
capital, Phnom Penh is certainly a horse of a different color.
When thinking of a tropical paradise, places
such as Hawaii or maybe the resorts in Southern Thailand come to mind—warm,
breezy, and clean getaway places for those who can afford air travel.
Phnom Penh is a tropical paradise, too, but one seen through the eyes
of Charles Bukowski, whose L.A. underground newspaper column, “
Notes of a dirty old man” earned him a reputation as an “American
primitive” writer as well as an FBI file.
It would probably require the masterful,
down-to-the roots language of a Donald Ray Pollock (“Knockemstiff”)
to describe what Phnom Penh truly is.
But Phnom Penh is more than the filthy back
alleys and sunny Sisowath Quai Promenade, with its abundance of awesome
restaurants (including the PP Foreign Correspondents Club, where the history
of the Vietnam War was written up to a large degree) and its neocolonial
Phsar Thmey (Central Market).
The ancient Khmer culture, one of the world’s
oldest, which managed the construction of Angor Wat 1,000 years ago, had
a good run of bad luck in modern times: the atrocities committed by the
Red Khmer under its leader Pol Pot (brother number one) in their attempt
to create a totally agrarian form of communism, in which they evicted
the cities and slaughtered almost one third of its population, is still
present these days; that era was never closed for good.
Many of today's leaders, including Head
of State Hun Sen, came to power under the Red Khmer.
With left-leaning politicians in Europe,
the term “predator capitalism” is popular, a convenient scapegoat
for the more complex misgivings of an unbalanced society.
If such predator capitalism exists, it does
in Cambodia, with a total negligence for the wellbeing of the average
Cambodian citizen.
There is no governmental health care system
and even in the outskirts of Phnom Penh, more than a third of the population
does not have access to sanitation, electricity, or running water. Interesting
enough is that after the reign of the Red Khmer ended in 1979 and the
constitutional monarchy was reestablished, the de facto power was held
by the ruling Communist CPP (Cambodian People’s Party) under its
leader Hun Sen, in power now for 25 years.
Subsequently, do-gooding is good business
in Cambodia—until recently, its streets were dominated by Toyota
Landcruisers, Mercedes G, and Range Rovers of NGO’s of all kinds,
and many 4 and 5-star hotels were booked solid with NGO personnel.
Tourism started to boom in the “wild
2000’s,” as they are called there.
Airlines such as Asiana, Korean Air, EVA
Air and Condor started to add flights in order to meet growing demand.
Also in regard to cargo:
While Bangladesh is a known hotspot of cheap,
cheaper, and cheapest garment production, Cambodia is even more so—and
conditions in the factories are even worse, if such a thing were possible.
Although Cambodia of course has its own
currency, the Riel, any business transactions take place in USD, and ATMs
in Cambodia dispense dollars.
One will encounter Riel only when paying
a bill and getting change—fractions of USD are made in Riel, one
USD being 4000 Riel. And since the “liberalization” in 2009,
brand stores have opened in abundance, something formerly unthinkable,
with conditions for the average citizen having actually worsened.
A burger and a coke at Burger King come
at the expense of a whole day’s salary for a garment or construction
worker.
Cambodia is rated one of the most corrupt
states of the world (ranked 156 out of 175 states as evaluated by Transparency
International).
The airline business has had a long stretch
of bad luck as well.
For decades, Cambodia had no flag carrier
to speak of: Air Dream, Angkor Airways, Cambodia Airlines, First Cambodia
Airlines, Kampuchea Airlines, Mekong Air, PMT Air, President Airlines,
Royal Air Cambodge, Royal Khmer Airlines, and Royal Phnom Penh Airlines—all
of them had a half-life of a few years at best, sprouting up and going
under.
A notable exception was Siem Reap Airways,
which actually delivered a superior product and was managed well.
However, Siem Reap Airways was an offshoot
of Thailand-based Bangkok Airways and Bangkok Airways operated its aircraft.
The maintenance as well as crew were Thai.
Following the Thai-Cambodian tensions over the Pre_h Vihear temple, the
Cambodian government revoked Siem Reap Airways AOC.
The Cambodian Airspace used to be one of
the most dangerous worldwide until the Cambodian State Secretariat of
Civil Aviation (SSCA) entered into an agreement with the Thai Samart Corporation
in January 2001, awarding Samart a 22-year license to operate the Cambodian
ATC.
Samart established a new firm; Cambodia
Air Traffic Services Co., which initially took over responsibility for
the PNH Flight Information Region, or FIR, followed by Aerodrome Control
and Approach Control services at both Phnom Penh and Siem Reap international
airports, as well as Aerodrome Control service at all other domestic airports
in Cambodia.
An Area Control Unit is operated in collaboration
with Bangkok FIR.
Likewise, the three international Cambodian
airports—the capital airport Phnom Penh Pochentong International
(PNH), Siem Reap International (REP), and Sihanoukville Kaong Kang (KOS)—are
operated by CAMS–Cambodia Airport Management Services Ltd, which
is a joint venture held 70 percent by the French VINCI group and 30 percent
by Muhibbah Masteron Cambodia, a Malaysian-Cambodian joint venture.
And the new Cambodian flag carrier, Cambodia
Angor Air (K6), which started operations in July 2009, seems to do well—since
it is also not managed locally but by Vietnam Airlines (VN) which is holding
only a 49 percent minority stake while 51 percent is held by the Cambodian
government. Its fleet of seven aircraft—four Airbus 321-200 (with
two more on order) and three ATR72-500—is leased from Vietnam Airways.
With three domestic destinations served
(PNH, KOS, and REP) and seven International destinations (Thailand, China,
and Vietnam with India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, and Korea to be added
in the foreseeable future) and load factors well above 79 percent, K6
will likely continue to be a success—unless the Cambodian government
exercises too much influence, or fierce competition starts a price war.
Although Cambodia Angkor Air currently enjoys
a comfortable domestic monopoly in Cambodia, this will change soon. Cambodia
Bayon Airlines (B9) is about to take to the skies, initially providing
domestic services between PNH, KOS, and REP. And B9 is thinking big: China-based
Joy Airlines (JR), which in turn is a joint venture of China Eastern Airlines
(MU) and Chinese aircraft manufacturer AVIC, is backed by Xi’an;
B9 has proposed a shuttle service between PNH and REP every 45 minutes
with flights running between PNH and KOS twice daily. Starting with two
AVIC Ark-60 before the end of 2014, the number is going to rise to five
in 2015 with an additional 25 of the AVIC aircraft on order.
While the improvements to the Cambodian
Air transport sector made since 2001 are notable and thorough, the fact
still remains that no Cambodian-managed enterprise has been successful
so far, and that air transport as well as air transported products are
not accessible to the vast majority of Cambodians.
The Cambodian government is likely not a
fan of the aforementioned Charles Bukowski (1920-1994), the German born
American underground writer who used his poetry and prose to depict the
depravity of urban life and the downtrodden, else they’d realize
that, as Buk put it:
“The shortest distance between
two points is often unbearable.”
The message here is that commerce and business
should in its broadest means serve the needs of a nation’s citizens.
Jens
Editor's Note: All year long we faithfully report the news with much
fondness for this industry we love. We originated the name Air Cargo News
in 1975, when our publication was founded in New York City 40 years ago.
In fact, we were the very first industry
media to carry the title Air Cargo News.
Our publication has existed for and about
people, created by an ever involved and connected group of writers.
We asked our editors to search around and
write about something that personally has touched them, which they would
like to share “in their own write.”
First we traveled to Bali, Indonesia, where
SkyKing wrote of the plight of the Manta
Ray population that lives and shares the waters of that beautiful
part of the world.
Next we arrived in New York City and remember
a favorite watering hole and some of the unforgettable characters, who
populated the famed White
Horse Tavern.
Here, Jens takes a long and detailed look at Cambodia,
a place where he spent his Christmas break 2014-15. |
