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PHNOM PENH, Dec 25 (AFP): Emirates airline of the United Arab Emirates will begin flights from Dubai to Cambodia, becoming the first airline to open a direct route between the Middle East and the Southeast Asian kingdom, officials said today.
Cambodia's Secretariat of Civil Aviation signed an agreement Friday with the airline to operate at least seven flights a week to the capital Phnom Penh, starting next year.
Civil Aviation Secretary of State Mao Havana said the link-up would provide Cambodia with an important connection to Europe, and hoped it would boost the impoverished country's tourism numbers.
"Both our tourism figures and airline will benefit," he said.
Emirates flies to more than 70 destinations worldwide, including more than a dozen Asian countries and regions.
More than 10 foreign airlines operate flights to Cambodia, including Singapore-based Jetstar Asia, Malaysia's low-cost carrier AirAsia and Shanghai Airlines.
Tourism is one of the only sources of foreign exchange for Cambodia, which is one of the world's poorest countries and is still clawing its way back to normalcy after nearly three decades of conflict that ended in 1998.
The kingdom is aiming to lure three million tourist arrivals annually by 2010.
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