Phnom Penh, Aug 10 (IANS): Cambodia registered 908,059 air travellers during the first seven months of 2022, up nearly 500 per cent compared to the same period in 2021, a spokesman said in a statement.

Sin Chansereyvutha, Spokesman for the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said that 26 airlines, including six airlines from China, had operated some 12,550 flights to the kingdom's three international airports during the January-July period this year, up 110 per cent from nearly 6,000 flights in the same period in 2021.

He attributed the remarkable rise to the Southeast Asian nation's full opening of borders to all travellers without quarantine since November 2021 after most of the kingdom's population have been vaccinated against the Covid-19, Xinhua news agency reported.

The increase in the number of passengers and flights is a sign showing that the tourism sector is returning to the path of the pre-pandemic growth, Chansereyvutha added.

"We predict that the number of air passengers will reach the pre-pandemic level in late 2023 or early 2024."

According to the spokesman, for air freight, the kingdom saw a 4.4 per cent drop in air cargo volume to 34,547 ton during the first seven months of this year.