VINCI wins rights to manage Phnom Penh’s new airport as French-Cambodian entente cordiale takes off

The French multi-sector construction and management company VINCI has been active in Cambodia through its airports (VINCI Airports) division for over two decades, by way of a local consortium in which it has a majority share.

Indeed, when VINCI Airports was scaled right down to very little around 2010 it was the three Cambodian airports that flew the flag for the operator until it began to build back up again to what it is today.

But recent years have been hard for VINCI in Cambodia. With complaints made about the revenues it was accruing versus the investments it was making, it lost out in the bidding for a new airport for the tourist city of Siem Reap - reportedly not even being asked to bid.

The same fate awaited it at Phnom Penh, the capital, but an intergovernmental meeting between leaders in Jan-2024 seems to have paved the way for VINCI to manage the new airport there when it opens in 2025, although it plays no part in the construction and will not hold any equity.

Even so, VINCI will be tasked with making rapid decisions to justify the USD1.5 billion outlay.

The Cambodian economy is in good shape, and tourists are returning after the COVID-19 pandemic, but four million passengers a year at a brand new airport which will be able to handle over three times that amount from Day 1, and 50 million eventually, would not be considered acceptable.

VINCI has great experience in these matters, and in Cambodia, but it will still face a challenge.