During my review trip, I had a layover at Techo International Airport (KTI), which is the new international airport in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The airport only opened in September 2025, so it’s about two months old. This was a pretty interesting layover for a couple of reasons, which I’d like to share in this post.
Continue reading: My Bizarre Transit At Phnom Penh’s Stunning Techo Airport
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I don't recall if you've been to Cambodia before, but it'd a lovely place to visit
They just took a picture because you're a handsome devil 🙂
To be fair, South East Asia transits are often quite strange and fun in the way there seems to be a hidden bureaucracy to everything. I have found that just keeping calm and keeping track of all your things with a sprinkle of patience goes a long way.
In September 1994 I arrived at Osaka Kansasai on Northwest from Honolulu. Transitting on to Ansett's brand new 747 to Sydney via .Brisbane with 8 hour transit. I arrived at transit desk and the Japanese staff didn't know what to do. I must have been first Ansett transfer passenger! They were polite and told me to come back about 5-6 hours later when Ansett staff came.
Just got back from Techo, and couldn't believe what a beautiful and clean facility it was. Kudos.
We were entering on a 3day trip (inbound from Bangkok, outbound to Singapore) to view the Killing Fields museums and others, and man did it take foreverrrrrrrr to enter. A bit too thorough. Guess I can't blame them.
And can confirm that the taking pictures of everything, for no apparent reason or benefit, is totally a thing there. lol
Wow, that’s a really nice design. Have you seen the new SAI airport yet? Glad things have calmed down with Thailand. Save travels!
Is it possible you were the first international transfer they've had in the two months they've been open (or the first for those employees)?
1) Techo looks beautiful, but I think Bangalore (Kempegowda airport's new terminal) has it beat. Take a look at pictures online. 2) I love how airport experiences often are reflective of that nation's or that city's culture. Sometimes stressful and dirty. Sometimes awkward and funny. Sometimes a snooze fest. Sometimes chaos on a stick. It's a little window into what you're about to walk into, or what you're just returning from. It's fun and fascinating (and sometimes excruciatingly annoying) to experience.
Shocked they let you use a mobile boarding pass! Never have I ever been able to use or get a mobile boarding pass departing a Cambodian airport. I tried to use a perfectly legitimate printed one at the old PNH airport in August and got yelled at and sent back to the check in counter.
Maybe with the new airport they are equipped to handle mobile passes. As of a few months ago the new SAI airport was still not allowing mobile.
Pretty similar at CGK...although in the past CGK demanded a physical boarding pass for transit. But also lots of photos, calls, as well as guarantee letter from the airline (done behind the scenes). These places don't seem to have a strict concept of airside...once off the plane you are in their country.
I mean the airport looks fine? I'm not sure what's so "beautiful" about it. It looks like tall ceilings and mostly empty space.
I could care less about how nice an airport looks as long as it's clean, efficient, and not overly crowded.
What’s wild to me is that the international terminal at PNH only underwent expansion from the old domestic terminal and opened in late 2015. When we were there in early 2016 parts were still opening and there were problems with large numbers of birds and mosquitoes inside as it wasn’t sealed properly in the late stages of construction. Only in a country as corrupt as Cambodia could a sparkly new terminal only have a 9.5 year lifespan.
Yes, that was my thought. I’ve had a similar experience, without the searching, at CGK.
Good to know that no need for a visa… been avoiding Cambodia because I thought thy had a strict visa like Vietnam! Next time I’m in the region, I’ll stop in Cambodia for few days!
In developing and middle-income countries a physical boarding card is always preferable.
They probably didn’t expect an Etihad passenger to come through. Qatar and Vietnam Airlines operate connecting, international flights through KTI, so you were probably the first customer from a different airline and they had to check if they can let you through - with a mobile boarding pass no less!
“Seriously, have you seen a prettier airport terminal?!” Is your jet lag affecting your perception Ben? From the photographs which you have published, one can see little that can be described as “Prettier” than many, many other international airports, yes?
I was there a few weeks ago and concur it’s “pretty” but you have to be there to really experience the vast empty fabulousness of it. I went from taxi to airside in less than 10 minutes. Highly recommended (and Phnom Penh)
We flew into Phnom Penh in January this year. We didn’t see the new airport but we did see the one in siem reap. It was massssssive and barely had any flights. Only one shop open.
Ben I wish you would dedicate a bit more attention to design and architecture, beyond just saying things are 'pretty.' Techo airport was designed by Foster + Partners so this is a very serious piece of architecture. There are references to Cambodian materials and design styles, and some solid sustainability goals as well. The same firm designed terminals or whole airports at PEK, AMM, HKG and STN to name a few, and Stansted in particular was very influential on later airport design. Foster famously said that his favourite-ever building was the Boeing 747, and is a licensed pilot. He designed Cathay's first class seats, as well as the Capella Singapore that you mentioned recently. I think it would be interesting to make a bit more of these connections, and maybe give more of a shout out to the creatives behind the designs you admire.
I think it just means that they future-proofly built an airport with an international transit capability while they don't yet have much international transit if anything at all.
Probably better than the opposite (e.g. Antalya or the old Almaty airport) where international transit happens, but the airport isn't designed for it.
So here it's just a matter of training staff which, the airport being two-month old, I believe we can accept as a minor inconvenience.
“Seriously, have you seen a prettier airport terminal?!”
Similar to another person - you really need to see the new PDX - it's won global awards for both design and its use of sustainable material sand practices, while cutting energy usage. So, yes, I have seen a prettier airport terminal.
Somebody from the. USA is complaining about international connections? You made my day.
Charlie, one concurs with much of what you post and I have no intention to add a ‘but’. However, in Ben’s defence, he has posted the pictures which depicts the terminal as he found it during his visit.
From what some of us see in the photographs, the descriptive word “Pretty”, is a stretch of one’s imagination.
Had a similar experience in the old PNH airport. After surprised looks and a lot of communication, I failed to get through because my connecting flight was on a separately issued ticket. It took 30 minutes and payment of $30 visa on arrival to enter the country, go through immigration, and enter the departure hall.
You definitely need a visa if you are staying for a few days unless you are on their country visa waiver list.
I suspect many visitors fly into Bangkok or Vietnam and then travel in/out of Cambodia by bus for just $10.00 each way.
If both flights were redeemed separately (as I understand yes) then that is a good news. As I know the old PNH airport ONLY accept paper boarding pass for international transit.
Racist. I guess your a Trump supporter who can’t even find the US in a map, let alone Kampuchea.
Damn you beat me to the KL Merdeka Hyatt (which i canceled after they opened early and I found out I wouldn't be there opening weekend) and the new Techo airport! Glad being polite worked in the end for transit, it usually does in SE Asia. Safe travels.
Exactly... Cambodia is building new airports because China wants Cambodia to buy new airports from them. Siem Reap isn't a big city. The "new" airport is literally in the middle of nowhere, and you drive for more than half an hour through countryside. Also, I found it really ironic that the new Siem Reap airport had "American Standard" sinks. Made me wonder where they were made in China.
Late next year we are arriving in Phnom Penh by ship from My Tho and departing three days later by air to CNX. Our travel advisor states that we will Visa in when the ship docks; I’ll be interested to see if that form of transit raises a red flag. It shouldn’t, but one never knows. Can’t wait to experience the new KTI.
If Ben reports it’s pretty, it’s pretty. Give the guy a break.
Well-said, Charlie! I would only add that, in my book, AMM is the most stunning of Foster's airport designs, the usual quality enriched by a brilliant invocation of vernacular Bedouin tents in the concrete shell structure. Sadly, with RJ being the perennial laggard that it is, few people get to see it.
(I do have to also add that, IMHO, the new Mexico City airport (shamefully cancelled by the previous president) would have been a blemish on Foster's legacy as an airport terminal designer - it was both over- and under-designed, something I witnessed up close at the time. But that's way off topic.)
OT, I hadn’t really considered it before as I rarely passed through airport terminals during my working travels, however, in the case of AMM, I have done so and would tend to agree with you. The natural light changes due to particularly nasty storm conditions was almost as dramatic as the Northern Lights in full glow.
Kelly, have you seen the Jewel, at SIN? Now, most people I meet agree that it is an exceptional airport experience. In my book it certainly deserves its Five Star World Ranking for customer satisfaction, etc.
Seems like simply a training issue - they had absolutely no idea - their training was probably "stand there". You may even have been their first ever transit passenger. Cambodia is not exactly an international hub airport other than for the two Cambodian airlines, whose passengers are by definition starting or ending their journeys there. Delhi is another with a below par transit experience, where you're better off going through immigration (with an online applied eVisa) in less than half the time transit can take.
It’s interesting how Techo Airport seems both modern and unprepared at the same time.puti
Having traveled through there for the past 20 years, you failed to mention the "conga Line" of immigration officers sitting at the row of desks who invented the $5 gets you faster service and then we'll hand back your passport. It's a wonderful country, but they have their issues. This is pretty common, but it's getting better.
Has anyone travel from the airport to the city? What's the commute like? I know it's farther than the older one
I don't think Cambodia has ever had international transit before since the old airport was so small. They probably legitimately did not know what to do yet lol. Hopefully they get this sorted quickly.
Whatever their original intentions were for stansted, its turned into a horrible airport that I actively try to avoid.
Hi Ben, - thanks for writing this. I had a very similar experience at Phnom Penh Techo Airport:
I followed the “International transfer” signage, but once I reached immigration, the staff seemed unsure what to do with me.
I was made to wait and sit 20 min no action happened, then told I needed to pay for a visa on arrival - even though I didn’t plan to enter Cambodia.
After paying, I went through immigration and re-entered the departure area - only to be told later by airline staff that I should’ve been able to stay in the transit zone without a visa.
I appreciate how you described the airport’s beauty, but the transit process clearly isn’t yet fully functional or consistent with the signage.
Hopefully, other travelers reading your post (and mine) will encourage the airport authorities to streamline the process.
Thanks again for sharing - I’m open to trying the transfer again once things are clarified.
It's slightly further in kilometer wise but time wise it can be even faster to get in city. Should only take 30-40 minutes to city.
Nothing to do with corruption. The old airport just got too small. The "new" terminal at old airport was just to help ease the congestion before getting new airport. Old airport designed capacity was 5 million and they were handling 6 million passengers already back in 2019, and would have probably got even more passengers that year but the airport didn't have anymore space for new planes during peak hours. For example Turkish Airlines wanted to fly there already in 2019 but no capacity on their desired hours. They delayed the connection untill finally now starting it.
Mobile boarding passes are now accepted by most airline at the new airport. They have also have self service kiosks. Immigration is also fully automatic for certain nationalities. Just took 9 minutes to get from plane to tuktuk last week, and most of that time was walking. Really fast if you happen to be one of those nationalities that can go through machines in immigration.