Air Koryo plane lands in China, first commercial North Korean flight in 3 years

Flight from Pyongyang arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning and is scheduled to return in the afternoon, according to Yonhap
Chinese foreign ministry said the carrier’s scheduled flight plans between the two countries were approved for summer-autumn

Diplomacy

Kawala Xie

Published: 3:00pm, 22 Aug 2023

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A passenger flight from Pyongyang landed in Beijing on Tuesday morning, the first known commercial flight from North Korea since it closed its borders in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Flight JS151, operated by North Korean state carrier Air Koryo, arrived in the Chinese capital at 9.17am, according to flight data on the Beijing Capital International Airport website.

It followed a Chinese foreign ministry announcement on Monday that China had approved scheduled flight plans between the neighbouring countries after Beijing eased its pandemic restrictions earlier this year.

North Koreans make their way through the Beijing airport’s arrivals section after the Air Koryo flight landed. Photo: AFP

“During the summer-autumn flight season transition in 2023, China approved Air Koryo’s scheduled flight plans from Pyongyang to Beijing to Pyongyang and other passenger routes requested by the airline according to procedures,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

It is not known who was aboard the North Korean flight. Flightradar24 data showed that it was a Tu-204 – a Russian-designed passenger aircraft with capacity for 210 passengers.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the plane was scheduled to leave Beijing again at 1.05pm on Tuesday, prompting speculation that it could be collecting North Korean citizens who were unable to return to the country during the pandemic.

Yonhap said it was possible the morning flight was transporting North Korean officials to Beijing, or that the return flight could take embassy officials in China back to Pyongyang.

Agence France-Presse reported earlier that the flight had been scheduled for Monday but was cancelled for unspecified reasons.

According to the Beijing Capital International Airport website, there are now three flights from Pyongyang to Beijing scheduled every week – JS151 on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and JS251 on Thursdays, all morning flights.

Passenger trains between Sinuiju and Dandong, border cities in North Korea and China respectively, will also resume this week, Radio Free Asia has reported. About 80,000 North Koreans currently live in Dandong, according to a tally by Seoul-based news site Daily NK at the end of last year. It estimated that more than 100,000 North Koreans live across China.

Travellers wait in line at the Air Koryo check-in counter at Beijing Capital International Airport on Tuesday. Photo: EPA-EFE/Yonhap

North Korea has relied on long-time ally China for most of its trade, transported on freight trains running between the two countries via Dandong, during the pandemic. Beijing has reportedly also supplied Pyongyang with Covid-19 vaccines and other medical supplies.

Pyongyang confirmed for the first time in May last year that North Korea was grappling with a Covid-19 outbreak, with millions believed to be infected.

According to Air Koryo’s website, the carrier will also operate flights to Vladivostok in Russia. Russian media have reported that the first flight from Pyongyang to Vladivostok is expected later this week.

02:22

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Last month, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un hosted Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Communist Party Politburo member Li Hongzhong during events marking the 70th anniversary of the Korean war armistice in Pyongyang.

Li was the most senior Chinese official to travel to North Korea since the pandemic began. Beijing and Pyongyang are strengthening their ties as the US, South Korea and Japan have agreed to expand their security alliance to counter China and North Korea.