The first vaccines to arrive at Phnom Penh’s airport came in on 7 February when a plane from China touched down on the airport’s runway with 600,000 doses of Sinopharm’s COVID-19 vaccine on board. This first batch is a donation by the Chinese government. Cambodia is one of the countries in the world with the lowest rate of covid-19 infection. To this day, Cambodian authorities have reported no fatalities and only 20 cases are active out of the 474 ones tallied since the pandemic outbreak in early 2020.
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Aligning with health safety measures enforced by Cambodian authorities and in line with the “Protecting Each Other” campaign deployed by VINCI Airports throughout its network, the three international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, and Sihanoukville have implemented a full array of hygiene protections based on guidelines laid out by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO). Last November the airports received the Airport Health Accreditation after being audited by teams of the Airports Council International (ACI). In the ASEAN region, they were among the first accredited platforms, in the same league as bigger regional hubs in Singapore, Jakarta, and Manilla.
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Alain Brun, CEO of Cambodia Airports, the company that develops and manages Cambodia’s network of international airports, said the “delivery of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines demonstrates the essential contribution of the airports to the country’s fight against the pandemic. Since day one, our company has ensured that our facilities remained open and fully operational to cater to passenger and cargo flights, fulfilling vital humanitarian and economic roles.”