Air Koryo

I flew from Beijing to Moscow on a charter flight last month I was pleasantly surprised with the service and the joy of flying on a TU-154M. I was in business class and found it to be just fine the entertainment was a tad basic but the food and cabin crew were lovely. I would have no hesitation of flying them again.

Only flew internal flights (3 legs) on AN-24. Drinks (beer or cider) provided on the 2 longer legs. No IFE. FAs spoke reasonable English and were friendly. No safety demonstration and the overhead bins were just overhead shelves. I like the way you can push the empty seats all the way forward (so they lie flat) in a half-empty plane it's a good option for more leg room! There is no choice flying domestic in DPRK but Air Koryo provided good entertainment.

✅ Trip Verified | Pyongyang to Vladivostok. Clean classic aircraft with amazing engine sound. Seats were a bit narrow, but okay for a flight of around one hour and ten minutes. Cabin staff was friendly, sandwich and lemonades, water were provided free. Excellent experience.

Flew FNJ-PEK last week. Handling on ground smooth and efficient accepting a couple of kgs more weight than allowed without even a question aircraft clean and modern service friendly and with a smile both on the ground and in the air. Ok catering and a good choice of drinks given the short leg of just 1.5 hrs flight time. On time flight. I guess the bad rating comes from the "old" Air Koryo operating but since a while both their equipment and their attitude has changed strongly and it's another carrier now.

Flew Beijing-Pyongyang (IL-62M) Pyongyang-Samjiyon return (Tu-134) Pyongyang-Hamhung return (IL-18) Pyongyang-Beijing (Tu-204) as well as 3 other flights on their An-24RV IL-76 and Mi-8 helicopter. I was on an organized aviation tour and we had not one problem on the whole trip. While all but the Tu-204 were ancient Soviet aircraft they were in immaculate condition. Every flight left on time with most arriving ahead of schedule. The crew's attitudes varied from flight to flight with some being better than others. Food was only given out on the international sectors and I must admit was revolting. IFE was also extremely poor and only available on their two Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft. All they showed us was a North Korean concert which was on a loop. While it didn't bother me too much on our 2 hour flight from Pyongyang to Beijing it would have driven me insane if I was flying to some of their other destinations such as Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok.

Beijing to Pyongyang with Air Koryo - kind staff. A passenger had some health issues and at Beijing airport a medical team waited and was informed about the problem. There was Korean cartoons and short movies. Food and drinks served was OK. Flight was were on time. Aircraft was clean.

On both legs (Beijing - Pyongyang - Beijing) the plane was a more than decent TU 204 with a reasonable seat pitch. Check in fast and efficient both at Pyongyang and Beijing: check in staff also turned a blind eye of a 2 kgs excess I had on both legs. This airline is an experience in itself: propaganda is on air during the whole flight with DPRK music. Complimentary inflight service with local both soft and alcoholic drinks. Deplaning at Pyongyang fast with rapid baggage delivery: in less than 30 minutes I was on my way (escorted by guides) to the hotel.

SHE-FNJ-SHE in Economy class. On the way to Pyongyang it was an old aircraft check in at Shenyang airport was smooth and check in at Korean air counter. Boarding was fine staff on board helpful and friendly. Due to the air conditioning the cabin was full of fog. There was a lot of condensation. No food for 1.5 hours flight to Pyong Yang. Check in at Pyong Yang was easy because there were not many flights at all. Departure and arrival are sharing same hall. One room for everything but very efficient. On the way back to Shenyang was new TU204 very modern aircraft. Food was served (a hamburger). Would recommend for the experience of the old aircraft (one off experience). I would fly again with the new aircraft in the future.

Beijing to Pyongyang. The Tupolev 204-100 aircraft is as comfortable as many that are flying around the US. The check-in experience was quick at Beijing and Pyongyang. The crew were friendly and smiling during the flight. The "burger" was quite tasty and I got a beer with it. Baggage quickly delivered at both ends.

Beijing (PEK) to Pyongyang (FNJ) return 22-24 August in economy. PEK to FNJ was on a newish and very clean two class TU-204 with decent seat pitch in economy drop down inflight entertainment and efficient service (economy bulkhead is row 4 first exit row with extra legroom is row 7). Catering consisted of the infamous Air Koryo 'hamburger' containing some kind of mystery meat and a choice of alcoholic or soft drink. Inflight entertainment consisted of clips from classical music performances and the obligatory state propaganda about the DPRK. Although there are headphone sockets none are given out (music plays throughout the cabin). Smooth landing but long taxiing time in Pyongyang. FNJ to PEK was on an older one class TU-204 with slightly less legroom but the service was the same - short propaganda piece inflight music and catering with the dreaded Air Koryo 'hamburger'. FAs are reasonably efficient if a bit robotic with adequate English skills (better than China Eastern for example). Quick check-in procedures in both Beijing and Pyongyang. Requested (and given) a window seat on both flights. No issues with luggage although baggage delivery in Pyongyang is painfully slow (allow 45 minutes or so waiting time). Overall a decent effort. The 1 star classification is unjustified - based on my experiences Air Koryo is somewhere between 2 and 3 stars overall. Catering and safety procedures need to be improved - tray tables were down and cabin baggage blocking access during take off.