This has to be the most fascinating route we’ve seen in quite some time…
Nordwind will fly from Russia to North Korea!
North Korea is of course known for being one of the most restrictive and secretive countries in the world. Currently, the country exclusively has service from national carrier Air Koryo, with flights operating within North Korea, as well as to nearby points in China and Russia.
Well, North Korea will be getting its first long haul flight, and first flight by a foreign carrier, in quite some time. As flagged by AeroRoutes, Russia’s Nordwind Airlines soon plans to operate the 3,984-mile flight from Moscow Sheremetyevo (SVO) to Pyongyang (FNJ).
As of now, this appears to be a one-time service for next week, with the outbound flight operating on July 27, and the return flight operating on July 29, with the following schedule:
N46107 Moscow to Pyongyang departing 7:00PM arriving 9:05AM (+1 day)
N46108 Pyongyang to Moscow departing 9:05AM arriving 11:45AM
Nordwind will use a Boeing 777-200ER for the route, in an all-economy layout, with 440 seats. The flight is bookable directly on Nordwind’s website.
The process of actually searching for flights there is quite entertaining.
This route was last served by a Russian carrier over 30 years ago, as Aeroflot used to operate this route once monthly, until 1994, with an Ilyushin Il-62. More recently, Air Koryo operated this route weekly, until 2001.
What on earth is the purpose of this flight?!
I think the ties between Russia and North Korea are obvious, as the countries are “friendly” to one another. However, one certainly wonders what the purpose of this flight is. As of now, it’s only scheduled once, with 24 hours of ground time, clearly in order to allow the crew to rest before returning.
Is this flight really expected to have any number of people onboard?
- North Korea accepts tourists in small batches (if at all), so one would think that an all-economy 777 offers way too much capacity
- This flight was scheduled fairly last minute, and with just one rotation, it’s presumably only serving travelers in one direction
- We know that North Korea is launching its new Wonsan seaside resort town, so I’m not sure if this is somehow connected to that, or what…
- If this were to accommodate some big group, you’d think this would just be operated as a charter flight, since it seems odd to even just put this flight on sale publicly
It seems much more likely to me that this route is about what’s being transported in the cargo hold, rather than in the cabin. This wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve seen a route like this. I mean, just look at the flights that we’ve seen Venezuela’s Conviasa operate, whether to Iran, or Russia, or Syria.
Bottom line
Nordwind Airlines will operate a flight between Moscow and Pyongyang, which is quite the rare sight. For now, the airline only plans to operate this flight once, with a 440-seat Boeing 777. I’m curious to see if the airline ends up scheduling more of these flights. While it won’t happen, I’d be fascinated to know just how full the cabin and cargo hold are…
What do you make of Nordwind flying to North Korea?
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