Cambodia is projected to receive 7.5 million air passengers in 2025, an expected rise of 20 percent from 2024, Mao Havannall, minister in charge of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), said on Wednesday.

Havannall made the remarks during the closing ceremony of a two-day conference in Phnom Penh.

"Air transport has played a very important role in boosting tourism, business, trade and Cambodia's socio-cultural connectivity with the world," he said.

According to the minister, Cambodia currently has direct flights with 12 countries and regions.

He said that 31 international and domestic airlines operated a total of 58,354 flights to the kingdom's three international airports in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 14 percent.

He added that the Southeast Asian country also recorded a 40 percent surge in air cargo volume to 77,800 tons last year.

The agency's secretary of state and spokesperson Sinn Chanserey Vutha was confident that the Siem Reap Angkor International Airport, which was put into official use in November 2023, and the Techo International Airport, which is scheduled to open to commercial operations in July 2025, would help attract more international airlines and passengers to Cambodia.

"The two new international airports are capable of handling the landing of almost all kinds of aircraft from across the world, so I believe that they will be able to attract more reputable international airlines to operate direct flights to Cambodia," he told Xinhua.