PHNOM PENH, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- Spring Airlines, a Chinese budget carrier, resumed its direct flights from Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, on Sunday after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The first flight landed at the Phnom Penh International Airport, receiving a warm welcome from Mao Havannall, minister in charge of Cambodia's State Secretariat of Civil Aviation, Cambodian Tourism Minister Huot Hak, Chinese Ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin, airport officials, and tour company representatives.

During the welcome ceremony, artists performed the traditional Chhay Yam dance, or drum dance, as officials presented each of the passengers with Krama, a UNESCO-listed traditional woven textile, as well as a small jasmine garland.

Speaking to the press at the event, Havannall said that the flight resumption would bring more Chinese tourists and investors to the Southeast Asian country.

"After we had suffered from the COVID pandemic for more than two years, Chinese tourists in particular are once again interested in and have returned to Cambodia," he said.

Havannall said Cambodia has seen a rise in the number of Chinese tourists thanks to their growing interest in the kingdom and Chinese airlines' flight expansions.

Wang said the flight resumption marked another milestone in the promotion of tourism cooperation and people-to-people exchanges between China and Cambodia.

He added that so far, Chinese flights to Cambodia have reached more than 60 percent of the pre-pandemic level.

China is the third-biggest source of foreign tourists to Cambodia after Thailand and Vietnam, according to the latest report from Cambodia's Ministry of Tourism.

The kingdom attracted a total of 769,775 Chinese visitors during the January-November period of 2024, up 54.5 percent over the same period last year, the report said.