Three Chinese companies were chosen to build a USD 1.5 billion international airport for Phnom Penh.

The three companies were not named, it´s known they were chosen from a shortlist of five.

The new airport will be located in Kandal province’s Kandal Steung district, about 30 kilometres south of Phnom Penh. The current Phnom Penh International Airport is about 400 hectares and is located 18 km from the new airport site. The new airport will be able to accommodate 27 million passengers by 2030, and up to 30 million by 2050.

The construction is expected to be authorized in July this year, it will be implemented in three phases and the airport should be completed by July 2022.

The project is owned by Cambodia Airport Investment which is a joint venture between Oversea Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC) and Cambodia´s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation. OCIC owns 90% of the project and State Secretariat of Civil Aviation - 10%.

USD 1.1 billion of the project cost will come from loans from foreign banks, and USD 280 million - from OCIC. OCIC has already signed an agreement with the China Development Bank.