PHNOM PENH, Sept. 16 : Cambodia reported 1.13 million air travelers during the first eight months of 2022, up almost 600 per cent compared to the same period last year, a senior official said on Friday.

However, the figure represented a 76-per cent drop compared to the same period in 2019 -- the pre-Covid-19 pandemic year, Sin Chansereyvutha, undersecretary of state of the State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, said.

He said some 25 airlines had operated about 15,521 flights to the kingdom's three international airports during the January-August period this year, up 123 percent compared to the same period last year.

He attributed the significant increase to the South-East Asian nation's full opening of borders to all travelers without quarantine since last November after most of the kingdom's population had been fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

"The gradual rise in the number of passengers and flights is a sign showing that we are returning to the pre-pandemic growth," he told a press conference.

The official said the aviation sector generated 1.7 million direct and indirect jobs, and contributed nearly 17 percent to the country's total gross domestic product (GDP).

 - Xinhua