Fly direct from Singapore to Phnom Penh with Emirates

It’s been awhile since I’ve visited a brand new country since my career break, but this year I finally step foot into Cambodia thanks to Emirates who launched their inaugural flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh on 1 May 2024 with a lovely launch event, and experience the comfort of Emirates Business Class on this trip. Here’s a little more about what went down on my trip to Cambodia.

My trip to Cambodia was part of a media familiarisation event by Emirates.

Why visit Cambodia?

Visiting Cambodia puts me one step closer to having visited most of Southeast Asia (there’s still Brunei and East Timor left!) and completed the French Indochina countries. I’ve always thought of Cambodia as being similar to its neighbours Laos, Vietnam and Thailand because of its many shared religious and cultural practices, but I’ve since learned that the Khmers have their own rich heritage, and it’s fascinating seeing how things compare across the borders largely because of different political decisions over its history.

Phnom Penh was surprisingly built up – I knew abstractly that it should be more modern because it is the capital after all, but I was honestly quite surprised by the sheer number of tall buildings as we flew over the city in the afternoon. Learning more about the civil war years – it hasn’t actually been that long since the country opened up – also put a lot of things that I’d only read about in the news into new perspective.

We also made a trip up north to Siem Reap to see the famous temples of UNESCO world heritage site Angkor Wat and Ta Promh, better known as the ‘Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider spot’. The weather was absolutely sweltering averaging in the high 30ºC range but always feeling around 40ºC+, but overall it was a great trip and I’d love to go back again on my own when it’s a tad cooler.

Emirates Flight Route: Singapore to Phnom Penh

Emirates has one flight daily between Singapore and Phnom Penh.

The evening flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh gets you into Phnom Penh in time for checking into your hotel and dinner, ready to start your following day fresh.

The return flight from Phnom Penh to Singapore lets you maximise your day in Phnom Penh. A note that the PNH airport does NOT have stored luggage facilities so make sure to arrange for a late check out or hire a driver who can manage your bags while you take in some last minute sights.

This SIN-PHN Emirates flight is timed to provide convenient links between Dubai as well as key European and American Emirates flights.

EK348 Inaugural Flight SIN-PHN on 1 May 2024

It was a labour day public holiday for most of Singapore, but not for Emirates and us who gathered at the Emirates Lounge in Terminal 1 to celebrate the launch of this first flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh! Speeches were made, a cake was cut and we got to relax in the lounge with some lunch pre-boarding.

Emirates EK348/EK349 Business Class review (B777)

The flight from Singapore to Phnom Penh takes less than 2 hours which makes it a great option for a quick getaway for Singaporeans who don’t want to do the usual run to Bangkok. Our media group was also treated to business class seats and lots of legroom!

Inaugural flights are usually met with twin water jets spraying down the plane as they taxi to the gate, but they skipped this in Phnom Penn in deference to the fact that there was a bit of a heatwave and drought happening (we were at the tail end of the hot dry season), but instead we were greeted with a traditional music and dance performances and VIPs putting the iconic checkered Cambodian scarf or Krama around our necks as we deplaned.

Thanks again to Emirates for this great short trip to Cambodia! Stay tuned for more blog posts covering the highlights we saw in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

If you are looking to visit somewhere a little more low key than Thailand and Vietnam, maybe give Cambodia a shot – things were stalled in the 70s-90s during the civil war times and they’re still building up their tourism infrastructure these days but it’s also still very affordable. As with all developing spots, this might change quite quickly in the coming years as it becomes more touristy (China has put in quite a lot of investment – the swanky Siem Reap airport opened in late 2023 is just one small example) – I really do hope to find the time to go back on my own and see less well-known spots in Cambodia in future.