On Tuesday Cambodia and Kenya signed an aviation agreement at the sidelines of the ICAO Air Services Negotiation Event in Nairobi, Kenya paving the way to establish Cambodia’s first direct flight with an African nation, Mao Havannall, Secretary of State for Cambodia’s State Secretariat of Civil Aviation (SSCA), and James Wainaina Macharia, cabinet secretary for Kenya’s Ministry of Transport inked the agreements on behalf of the two countries.

According to SSCA spokesman Sinn Chansereyvutha, the aviation agreement represents a new step in the evolution of the countries’ aviation industry, and gives airlines an opportunity to expand their markets in both countries.

“The agreement is proof that we are opening our market to have a direct flight between the two countries. If any airline is interested in establishing a direct flight between Cambodia and Kenya, they can now go ahead and do it,” he added urging that there are no airlines operating flights between the countries at the moment, but there is now hope this agreement will change that with commercial flights expected to be set up to encourage the private sector according to secretary-general of the Cambodia National Tourism Alliance Ho Vandy.

“Right now there are no flights with Kenya, so we need to go through Thailand or Singapore. This agreement represents a new chapter for relations with Kenya and will boost tourism and investment in the aviation industry. “As per the agreement, airlines will be able to operate code-share flights and fly to Kenya via a third location,” Ho Vandy said.

Following the data collected from the Ministry of Tourism, the number of tourists from the African continent rose by 14.5 percent last year, reaching 12,752 people and currently, Kenya Airways, the national flag carrier, flies to several of destinations in Asia, including Bangkok, Hanoi, Hong Kong, Dubai and Guangzhou province in China.