Last week, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen claimed that the number of tourists visiting Cambodia had increased substantially over the years and now the country is expecting 12 million tourists by 2025. He was rationalising the building of new airports in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap to 18,000 workers in the Kandal province."France’s Vinci, the company overseeing airports in Cambodia, never expected the high growth of tourists travelling by air to Cambodia.

Although everyone in Southeast Asia can fly these days due to the proliferation of low-cost airlines, the experience is not necessarily pleasant with long queues and constantly having to present travel documents to different parties. Airports are struggling to cope with growing passenger numbers who are also becoming more demanding. This makes them good testbeds for smart technology.In Southeast Asia, Singapore’s Changi Airport is leading the charge in innovation.

More and more Southeast Asian countries are upgrading their existing airports, as well as building new ones. Southeast Asian governments can manage airport capacity in one of two ways: build mega-hub airports or construct smaller, optimum-sized airports which can be scattered across the country. Indonesia, for one, is spreading its airport construction to smaller islands. It is slated to open Kertajati International Airport in West Java in mid-June of 2018.

The recent introduction of facial recognition technology by popular low-cost airline, AirAsia, to shorten security queues could also have utility in countering the terrorism threat in Southeast Asia. Even so, effective implementation for that purpose will need to be counterbalanced by sound regulatory laws. The new facial recognition technology, known as the ‘Fast Airport Clearance Experience System’ (FACES) is currently being tested in Johor’s Senai International Airport in Malaysia.

“We are very pleased to announce that two home-grown companies have partnered together to form a new Asean joint venture,” said Tony Fernandes, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of AirAsia Group.In line with AirAsia’s goal to solidify its position as the leading low-cost carrier in the Southeast Asian region, the company had recently formalised a partnership with SATS Ltd (SATS) – the chief ground-handling and in-flight catering service provider at Singapore Changi Airport – which will allow both

Singapore's Changi Airport opened a cutting-edge terminal Tuesday with a fully automated check-in system including facial scanning and computerised baggage drop points, but some passengers struggled with the new technology.Terminal 4, built at a cost of S$985 million (723 million dollars), will have an annual capacity of 16 million people and is aimed at coping with an expected increase in passenger numbers through one of Asia's top travel hubs.It is packed with new technology, mean