Cambodia resolves Phnom Penh airport tensions with new rights grant

PHNOM PENH -- The Cambodian government has quietly defused tensions with France's Vinci over the erosion of its aviation monopoly in Phnom Penh by granting the company rights to manage the city's new Chinese-built international airport, due to open next year.

Through a joint venture, the French company took over the running of Phnom Penh International Airport in 1995 and then subsequently also assumed control over airports in Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. While Vinci's operating rights in the three cities had been set to run through 2040, deals that the Cambodian government reached in recent years with Chinese state companies for the building of new airports looked set to break the French company's monopoly.