After several decades, direct passenger flights are set to resume between Moscow and Pyongyang.
According to the schedule of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport, the first flight will depart at 7pm local time Sunday.
This decision was announced on Sunday as part of the ongoing development of bilateral ties between the two former communist allies since the start of the Ukraine war in 2022. This follows the resumption of passenger rail services between Moscow and Pyongyang in June, which operate a 10-day journey.
Russian state news agency RIA reported that the 8-hour flight will be operated by a Boeing aircraft with a seating capacity of 440 passengers. Ticket prices for the flight start at 44,700 rubles (approximately $563), with the first flight already sold out.
Russia’s Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) has granted Nordwind Airlines permission to operate flights twice a week between Moscow and Pyongyang. The Ministry of Transport stated that, to foster stable demand, flights will initially operate once a month.
Regular flights between the two capitals had been suspended since the mid-1990s.
