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Vanessa Cai

China’s flagship airline resumed direct flight services to Pyongyang on Monday, a symbolic and logistical development that marks warming bilateral ties and comes just weeks after passenger train services were restored for the first time in six years.
The Air China flight arrived at Pyongyang Sunan International Airport on Monday morning. China’s ambassador to North Korea, Wang Yajun, and other embassy diplomats welcomed passengers at the airport, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua.
The Boeing 737 operated by the national carrier departed from Beijing Capital International Airport about 8am and arrived at Pyongyang at 10.40am local time, flight data showed. The return flight left Pyongyang for Beijing around 12pm local time.


According to the Air China website, the route operates on Mondays on the same schedule.
Wang said the resumed flight route was a “landmark event” in the two countries’ aviation cooperation, according to a Chinese embassy statement.
“This will serve as a bridge to further strengthen friendly exchanges and people-to-people ties, and inject new momentum into bilateral travel, economic cooperation and cultural exchanges,” he was quoted as saying.
The statement said passenger representatives noted it was a “perfect flight experience” and expressed confidence that the resumed route would allow greater travel convenience.
Air China began operating flights between Beijing and Pyongyang in 2008, but services were suspended in January 2020 following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The carrier has since occasionally operated flights for Chinese government officials, while North Korea’s only commercial airline, Air Koryo, resumed flights to Beijing in August 2023.
Earlier this month, China resumed passenger train services to North Korea after a six-year pause. Services were stopped in early 2020 as part of strict pandemic-related border closures.
Trains between Beijing and Pyongyang now run four times a week, according to China Railway Group. A service between Dandong on the Chinese border and Pyongyang runs daily in both directions.
North Korea closed its borders in late January 2020, shortly after Covid-19 first appeared in China, making it one of the first countries to do so. The closing of the border halted trips by Chinese tour groups, the main source of tourist visits.
Cargo rail links between the two countries resumed in January 2022 and cargo trucks started running again the following year.


North Korea enforces some of the world’s strictest border controls. Tourists are required to join organised tour groups and may only enter the country using air or rail links.
In recent months, North Korea has signalled a greater willingness to improve relations with China amid heightened tension with Seoul and growing uncertainty about US foreign policy under President Donald Trump.
In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made a rare trip to Beijing, where he had one-on-one meetings with President Xi Jinping as well as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
Kim’s meeting with Xi, their first in-person talks since the Chinese leader visited Pyongyang in June 2019, signalled a warming of ties that had been strained by North Korea’s growing military alignment with Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
China and North Korea have held a series of high-level exchanges in recent months.


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China

Diplomacy

Air China flight arrives in North Korea days after passenger train services between the neighbours were restored


Air China flight arrives in North Korea days after passenger train services between the neighbours were restored.


China steps up North Korea connections as regular Beijing-Pyongyang flights resume

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Air China flight arrives in North Korea days after passenger train services between the neighbours were restored

Air China flight arrives in North Korea days after passenger train services between the neighbours were restored