North Korean airline operates first flight to Vladivostok since COVID-19 began

A North Korean passenger plane flew from Pyongyang to Vladivostok on Friday morning, the first such flight to the Russian Far East city since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Flag carrier Air Koryo previously confirmed to NK News that it would operate two flights from Vladivostok on Friday and on Aug. 28. Experts have said the flights will likely bring home DPRK citizens who have been stranded abroad due to their country’s stringent pandemic border restrictions, according to NK News. 

Tu-204 passenger jet, flight JS271, left Pyongyang International Airport around 8:50 a.m. KST, the aviation-tracking website FlightRadar24 showed.

The aircraft was set to arrive at Vladivostok at 9:50 a.m. KST, given the regular flight duration of one hour on this route.

After three hours at the Vladivostok airport, the plane departed for Pyongyang at 1:05 p.m. KST and is expected to land in the North Korean capital after a one-hour flight.

The flight comes days after Air Koryo carried out its first passenger flight since the pandemic to the Chinese capital of Beijing on Tuesday and followed up with one more flight on Thursday.

On Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry announced that it had granted Air Koryo approval to resume Pyongyang-Beijing flights.