China approves North Korean airline Air Koryo to resume flights between two nations

Flag of North Korea and China | Representative Image

Beijing: Beijing has approved North Korea’s state carrier Air Koryo to resume flights to China, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Monday.

The ministry did not provide more details such as the resumption date or what the flight’s weekly frequency may be. It referred further questions to China’s aviation regulator which was not immediately available to provide comment.

Air Koryo’s Shanghai office did not respond to requests for comment.

The approval comes after South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said the North Korea-China border is gradually reopening, with train services increasing.

China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and neighbour. Last month, a Chinese delegation visited Pyongyang to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, the first to visit the reclusive state since the pandemic.

Flights between the two countries were suspended in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as both shut down borders to other countries. Previously, Air Koryo and Chinese state airline Air China flew routes between the two countries.

Li Hanming, a Chinese aviation analyst, said resuming the flights between the two countries would be easy.

“They used to have only one flight per day, alternating between Air China, Air Koryo,” he said.

(Reporting by Ella Cao, Lun Tian Yew, Sophie Yu in Beijing; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Angus MacSwan)