Air Cambodia, an airline partly owned by the government of the eponymous Asian country, is planning to order 10 Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, plus options for 10 additional ones.
This decision was announced by Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol and is part of a broader deal with the United States that will see a reduction of trade tariffs between the two countries. No further details about the deal have been disclosed.
Previously, the Trump administration had announced its intention to raise tariffs to Cambodian-made goods to 36%. After the latest round of negotiations, the South-Eastern Asian nation, which exports around US$10 billion to the US annually, will see tariffs drop to 19% instead.
The US has also been involved in talks between Cambodia and its neighbor Thailand to end the conflict between the two countries, which in July 2025 waged a border war with multiple casualties on both sides.
Air Cambodia, which is based at Phnom Penh International Airport (PNH), was set up in 2009 as a joint venture between the Cambodian government and Vietnam Airlines with the name Cambodia Angkor Air. The Vietnamese flag carrier still holds 14% of its capital after having sold an equity stake to several Chinese investors.
This order for a potential 20 B737 MAX aircraft would represent a significant commitment from Air Cambodia as well as a notable switch from Airbus to Boeing. According to data from ch-aviation, as of August 2025, Air Cambodia has just five active aircraft, two A320 jets and a single A321ceo aircraft.
The Cambodian carrier is also an ATR72 operator. In May 2025, it received the first of three new ATR72-600 turboprops that it has leased from HNCA Aviation Financial Leasing Co (HNCAL), a Chinese aircraft leasing firm.