Review: Sky Angkor Airlines, Siem Reap to Sihanoukville

Until recently, there was only one flight from Siem Reap to Sihanoukville, and it wasn’t cheap. Last year a new airline has started offering flights between Sihanoukville and Siem Reap several times a week. It’s an all-around winner: Sky Angkor Air’s planes are new, the prices are incredibly low, and I didn’t crash on my recent flight.

Sky Angkor Airlines Cambodia

Sky Angkor Airlines flights Siem Reap to Sihanoukville for cheap.

Sky Angkor Airlines, formerly SkyWings Asia Airlines, is a joint Korean and Cambodian venture and is flying the first international flights in and out of Sihanoukville Airport, to Korea, Japan, and China. Their fleet consists of three full-size Airbus A320-200s, which is reassuring to the passenger who might be skittish about flying domestic flights in Cambodia on smaller propeller planes.

The Siem Reap to Sihanoukville flight is part of a triangle route to allow Korean passengers to hit the temples of Angkor and the beach. As such, it hasn’t been advertised at all, and on both of my flights last week fewer than 20 of the 200 seats had passengers. That might be why the tickets are between $112 and $160 for a round-trip flight, which is incredibly low compared to the dominant player on the route, Cambodia Angkor Air, who charges between $230 and $300 for a return flight.

Siem Reap to Sihanoukville flights

Sky Angkor Airlines flies roomy A320-200’s from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap.

On my flights, because there were so few passengers and they were all already at the airport, the flights began boarding 45 minutes before the scheduled departure and took off 30 minutes early. They say that check-in closes 30 minutes before boarding, but it might be worth showing up 45 minutes early so they can leave early. The planes have 180 economy class seats, and no business class. On my flights, the flight attendants were Korean and Cambodian, and the pilots were Cambodian and Ukrainian.

Sky Angkor Air schedule:
Siem Reap to Sihanoukville: Tuesday, Thursdays Saturdays, and Sundays, 10:30 a.m.
Sihanoukville to Siem Reap: Monday Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 10:30 p.m.

Flights cost between $56 and $80 each way, Like most local airlines, Sky Angkor Airlines has one price for Cambodians and a much higher price for foreigners. It used to be on their website everyone got the local price regardless of nationality, but we are not longer sure if that’s the case.

Sky Angkor Airlines

Get ready for take-off with Sky Angkor Airlines!

Despite being such a technologically advanced country, Korean airline websites seem to be some of the most complicated and hard to navigate in the world, and Sky Angkor Airlines’s site is no exception. You’ll need to go to their Mingliang Group in Phnom Penh, Sopheak Na Travel in Siem Reap, and Ana Travel in Sihanoukville (no website, T: 012 915 301) are all travel agents that we have used.

It’s worth noting that many airlines based elsewhere in Asia start a domestic flight in Cambodia so they can get their Airline Operating Certificate (AOC) in Cambodia, which unsurprisingly has laxer standards than many of its neighbors. Then, once licensed later down the down, they stop the domestic routes. For this reason, don’t book too far in advance on Sky Angkor Air. They only allow bookings for two months in advance anyway, and because this is part of a package from Korea that goes to both Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville, I think that it will actually stick around for a while.

Sky Angkor Airlines

T: 027 522 633 (reservations)
Road 6, Angkor Shopping Arcade E41&E43, Khros Village, Svay Dangkum Commune, Siem Reap
T: 063 967 300; 063 967 400
skyangkorair.com

Once you arrive, here’s how to get from the airport into Siem Reap and how to get from the Sihanoukville airport into town.

Want to know the other options for getting from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap? We’ve got you covered.

4 Responses to Review: Sky Angkor Airlines, Siem Reap to Sihanoukville

    Zach says:

    The website is fairly easy to navigate and you pay in dollars.
    The price for mid February 2017 was only 30 dollars one way for Sihanoukville to Siem Reap with generous baggage allowances.I think this is the same price you would pay for an 11 hour bus trip.One of the easier travel options choices.

    sly says:

    Do you have any idea what the difference is in flight class? For example, what is the difference between What between “B-Economic Flex,” “WL-Economic Saving” and “WH-Economic Saving” and WR? I can’t find any info on their website.

      Lina says:

      Same as with other airlines, it just different fare buckets. The most expensive ones have a more lenient cancellation policy, but that’s about it.

    Fred says:

    Hello, In their website, there is different prices fo the same flight, preceded by letters( Y, B, S, or WR). Do you know what this means?
    thank you
    F

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.