N. Korean airliner flies to Shenyang after nearly 4 yrs since border lockdown

SHENYANG, China, Dec. 13 (Yonhap) -- Air Koryo, North Korea's national carrier, operated commercial flights connecting Pyongyang and Shenyang on Wednesday after a hiatus of nearly four years prompted by the COVID-19 outbreak.

The JS155 flight, which departed from Pyongyang at 12:30 p.m., arrived at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang at 11:47 a.m. (local time) ahead of making a return trip back to the North at 3:47 p.m.

Some 120 North Korean residents, most of whom worked in trading in China's northeastern region, are believed to have been aboard the plane returning to Pyongyang, according to sources.

Wednesday's flights marked the first time since January 2020 that Air Koryo operated passenger flights between Pyongyang and Shenyang.

While three North Korean airplanes had made trips to the northeastern Chinese city in May last year to carry medicine, its passenger flights to Shenyang had been suspended since Pyongyang closed its border.

Sources said Air Koryo is scheduled to fly to Shenyang once more next Wednesday, but it is unclear whether the North Korean airliner will resume regular flights to the Chinese city.

Air Koryo had operated regular flights to Beijing three times a week and to Shenyang two times a week before the border closure.

Most transportation between North Korea and China's northeastern region has resumed, with cargo trains and trucks operating between cities in the border area.

North Korea also runs irregular bus services between the North's Sinuiju and China's Dandong for North Korean residents.

Passenger train services running through Pyongyang and Sinuiju to Dandong and Beijing still remain suspended.

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