Duncan wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 7:23 am It took me hours to get from Takhmau to Old market , by bus a few days ago. I hope they are planning a sky train to beat the traffic jams .

The first stretches of the Bangkok sky train took 10 years from idea to first ride, so even if they start planning today (which they probably won't...).

The old airport will be missed by many.

Does anyone have any problems with the existing airport?

IMHO it is a pleasure to use. Once through check-in you walk 50 metres to the escalator, 30 metres to passport control (which is never busy), another 30 metres to security (again never busy), then snake through the glitzy duty free shopping emporium and et voila. You then park up at Metro for a beer and some food, if desired. I cannot remember it ever taking more than 15-20 minutes and that is nearly all the check in queue, which are the same everywhere. Once you have your boarding pass you are 5 minutes away from a beer and a seat.

It is one of the few things on this country that works perfectly. And now that the middle section of the flyover on Russian Boulevard was finally completed, my journey time from Daun Penh to the airport rarely takes more than 40 minutes.

The current runway is 3000 metres, or 9842 feet. Is this a long runway? It's long enough for both a 787 Dreamliner and even a 747!

Boeing 787-8 requires a runway length of between 4,400ft - 5,000ft Boeing 787-9 requires a runway length of between 4,400ft - 6,200ft Boeing 787-10 requires a runway length of between 5,500ft - 7,000ft.

The FAA/EASA Minimum runway length requirements for MLW landings are 7,500ft (~2,300m) for the 747-8F, and 6,750ft (~2,000m) for the 747-8i.

As far as I am aware, there are no direct flights to any European capital, any city in Australia and, of course, nothing in north America.

The 787, the newest of the Boeing range and a long range aircraft, seats between 242 and 330, depending on it's configuration and has a range of up to 8500 nautical miles. It can easily reach London at 6231 nautical miles, Sydney is a mere 4365 and even Los Angeles at 8211 is even within it's grasp.

So, we have the aircraft to go long range and we have a runway for them to use.

So, why does Cambodia need a new airport? Phnom Penh is little more than a regional airport; you still cannot even get a DIRECT flight to Hanoi FFS, the capital city of a neighbouring country. So who do they think is going to start flying A380's and 747's here just because they have a new shiny airport?

The Americans have a great word for such a government ordered huge and unnecessary project - a Boondoggle.

And it is seemingly going to add an hour of travelling time for me.

Phnom Poon wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:24 am

Doc67 wrote: ↑Fri Dec 06, 2019 10:18 am Does anyone have any problems with the existing airport?

it's a long way across town from the dictator's compound in Takhmau
the new boulevard helped, but why not bring the mountain to muhammad?

He wont be Muhammed forever. Maybe he's hedging his bets and is planning for a quick getaway?