Phnom Penh, Sep 16 (IANS): Cambodia registered 1.13 million air travellers during the first eight months of 2022, up almost 600 per cent compared to the same period last year, a senior official said on Friday.

However, the figure represented a 76-percent drop compared to the same period in 2019, the pre-Covid pandemic year, Sin Chansereyvutha, undersecretary of state of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said.

He said some 25 airlines had operated about 15,521 flights to the kingdom's three international airports during the January-August period this year, up 123 per cent compared to the same period last year, reports Xinhua news agency.

He attributed the significant increase to the Southeast Asian nation's full opening of borders to all travellers without quarantine since last November after most of the kingdom's population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

"The gradual rise in the number of passengers and flights is a sign showing that we are returning to the pre-pandemic growth," he told a press conference.

The official said the aviation sector generated 1.7 million direct and indirect jobs, and contributed nearly 17 per cent to the country's total gross domestic product (GDP).

The country attracted more than 740,000 international visitors in the first seven months of 2022, an increase of 560 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Tourism.