Air China, the national flag carrier of China, is preparing to restart its passenger flights from Beijing to Pyongyang in March, marking the first time the route has been active in six years. This development follows the recent revival of a standard passenger train link between the two nations.
According to information verified by NK News, Air China’s official website is now selling tickets for the Pyongyang route, with the first flight scheduled for March 30. The service will then run every Monday until at least October. Rowan Beard, a tour operator with Young Pioneer Tours—a company that arranges visits to North Korea—also confirmed the resumption date with the airline.
The published timetable shows flights departing from Beijing Capital International Airport at 8:05 a.m. local time, arriving at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport at 11:00 a.m. (Korean Standard Time). The return leg is set to leave Pyongyang at 12:00 p.m. KST, touching down in Beijing at 12:55 p.m. local time.
Two ticket classes are being offered. An economy seat costs 2,040 RMB (approximately $295), while a business-class ticket is priced at 5,930 RMB (around $860). These fares are similar to those charged before the global health crisis.
The Beijing-Pyongyang air link was last operational in January 2020, but was suspended that same month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the route was inactive, Air China maintained a team of employees in Pyongyang. The airline’s most recent activity involved a cargo flight from Shanghai to North Korea in October, preceded by several state-organized charter flights transporting Chinese officials since 2023.
This aviation update follows closely on the heels of another transport milestone: China officially restarted its cross-border passenger rail service with North Korea. A train departed from the Chinese border city of Dandong to Sinuiju in North Korea on Thursday, the first such journey in six years, effectively re-establishing a direct line between the two capital cities.
There was some initial uncertainty regarding the exact restart date. Air China’s website had originally listed March 25 as the beginning of the new service, a date reported by several South Korean media organizations, including Yonhap News Agency. However, the airline later corrected the information, finalizing March 30 as the launch date.
While Air China is ending a long pause in its service to North Korea, the country’s own national carrier, Air Koryo, had already restored its own international flights to China back in August 2023. Air Koryo currently connects Pyongyang with Beijing and Shenyang, and occasionally flies to Shanghai. That same month, the airline also reinstated its route to Vladivostok, Russia, primarily for North Korean laborers and Russian diplomats. Additionally, direct monthly flights between Moscow and Pyongyang were launched in July of the previous year by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines. With the upcoming Beijing-Pyongyang flights, Air China becomes only the second foreign commercial airline to establish a regular presence in North Korean airspace.
