North Korea’s state airline
Air Koryo: This is the worst airline in the world
In action at Air Koryo: The only Ilyushin Il-18 passenger aircraft in the world that is still flying was built in 1969.
© Imago Images
The aircraft of the North Korean state airline are considered museum-ready and are almost all banned from landing in the EU and the USA. After several emergency landings, Air Koryo is only allowed to fly to China with certain conditions.
In the ranking of the British consumer organization Skytrax, which evaluates 180 airlines every year, there is always a loser: Air Koryo is the only airline that is repeatedly “awarded” one star.
In addition to the two newer Russian Tupolevs 204, the fleet consists of flying dinosaurs that date back to Soviet times: several decades old Antonovs, Ilyushins of the type Il-18, Il-62 and Il-76 as well as Tupolevs of the Tu-134 and Tu-154 series, which were also used by the GDR airline Interflug.
Overall, the average age of all jet and propeller aircraft is more than 30 years.
Air Koryo’s miserable reputation
The reason for the disastrous rating is, among other things, the poor service on board. “The only drinks were tea, coffee, beer and fruit juices,” writes user Jianghuai Wang from China at Skytrax. He also expresses safety concerns about the airline with the red star on the tail unit because the flight attendants do not check whether the passengers have switched off their cell phones who have fastened the seat belts and the backrests are upright.
Lonely on the tarmac: the desolate everyday life of North Korea’s airline
8 images
The incidents have increased in recent years. On the way from the North Korean capital Pyongyang to Beijing, a Tupolev from Air Koryo had to make an emergency landing in Shenyang, China, in July, as it became known many weeks later. Passengers report smoke development in the cabin. A fire broke out in a loudspeaker below the overhead locker.
The Chinese authorities therefore asked Air Koryo to review their security measures, maintenance work and improve communication with the air traffic controllers. The airline then ceased operations – for 18 days. North Korea was thus cut off from international air traffic for more than 14 days.
Not an electronic ticket, but still on paper: Air Koryo ticket and boarding pass
© Till Bartels
On September 11, 2014, one of the two newer Tuplews 204 of the North Koreans had made an emergency landing in enemy territory, of all places: at Incheon International Airport in the South Korean capital, Seoul.
According to the airline, only the Chinese border town of Dandong, Beijing and Russian Vladivostok will be served abroad in the summer of 2020.
Emergency exit instructions on board an Air Koryo Tupolev Tu-154
© Archive Emergency Exit
If you want to visit North Korea, you have no other choice: you have to board an Air Koryo plane. But due to the pandemic and even stricter isolation of the country, there are currently no scheduled flights from Air Koryo.
Also read:
– Antonov, the Russian flying dinosaur
– Bye bye, Berlin-Schönefeld – An obituary for the GDR airport
– Desert terminus: the final resting places of the Airbus A380