flew Air Koryo TU 204 in 2016. The flight and service was much better than expected. Landing in Pyongyang was weird, as there was no traffic, we went from cruising altitude to landing in 5 mins

Hello, Syrian here. In Syria we have a similar issue, albiet not to the same extent. On multiple occasions I have boarded pretty old TU-134s. The experience of flying an old, practically extinct jet is pretty cool to me, even with the knowledge that they are pretty unsafe. Edit: for those interested, the aircraft reg is YK-AYF

I flew a domestic route within North Korea aboard Air Koryo (Pyongyang - Orang) back in 2017. First and only commercial flight I've ever been on with a clearly labelled escape rope at one of the emergency exits.

I'm far less concerned with the safety aspect of flying Air Koryo than I am about flying to/from the DPRK. The latter is far more dangerous as far as I'm concerned. The state itself has claimed more lives (even Western lives) than this airline has since the 80s.

Delta’s 757s are so immaculate and smooth, with their fully upgraded/renovated cabins it feels like a brand new jet. I’m sad that they will have to be phased out in time

Those old school Soviet jets are tbh probably much safer then the 737 max

Thanks! I have noted your review. I'll start right now to make this airline better.

As somebody from tiny soviet town my first flying experiences were on grass field airport with an old soviet Antonov An-2 biplanes. Even though I prayed often for my life I didn't realize how cool it all was back then. I really miss flying different airplanes.

The Tupolev 204 is not so bad after all. The EU unbanned Air koryo flight to the EU only for flights operated with the tu 204.

From 1991 they flew charters to Nagoya, Japan for several years. The pilots were not proficient in English, and air traffic control was confused. They were instructed to wait until 05:30 (several minutes), followed by 30 minutes of silence, and on one day they took off without clearance. The equipment was also tattered and had various troubles such as the transmitter stack.

I flew three round-trip Air Koryo flights from Beijing to the DPRK in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Each time I flew on an IL-62 with four tail-mounted engines. These were the scariest flight experiences in my life. We boarded the plane from stairs up from the tarmac in a somewhat unused part of the Beijing airport. As I climbed the stairs, I looked down at the tires and could see severe wear on the treads -- the threads were literally showing through. This gave me a lot of pause as I considered that Air Koryo relies on Russian parts and probably Russian technicians for service, and that these were likely in short supply since DPRK relations with Russia were shaky at that time. We seemed to careen down the runway on takeoff and landing, veering from side to side in a way that I hadn't experienced before in a plane. Once in the air, though, it was pretty smooth.

Most Dangerous Airline exist. Aerosucre: Allow me to introduce myself.

According to Wikipedia, Air Korya had only one crash in 1983, when 26 people died. Moreover, the plane was produced in 1981 and crashed into a mountain in bad weather conditions.

5:50 to 5:56 has to be the coolest OG airplane gimmick I’ve seen

Old is generally not a problem with well maintained aircraft. New or relatively new is not a substitute for good maintenance. We have DC 3s that are still in service.

I've been following Air Koryo for a number of years. Their legacy fleet is not used much these days. Most flights are conducted with the newer Tu-204 and An-148. The older jets probably fly a couple times a month if that, for domestic charters and the occasional scheduled flight to Vladivostok, Russia if a newer aircraft is unavailable. China won't allow the legacy fleet in their airspace since 2016 or so. The limited destinations Air Koryo serves means that all of their scheduled flights can be conducted by the 4 newest aircraft that they have on hand. They'd probably expand a bit if they could get more planes but are doing okay for now

Main issue for Air Koryo isn’t where to get new aircraft, it’s the fact that UN sanctions ban the sale of all aircraft to North Korea (though not aircraft parts, which is how they keep their current fleet running). Perhaps the best way to predict the modernisation program is to look at the model they had before the borders closed- newer Tu-204/214s on international routes, An-148s on short haul international and some domestic routes, easy to maintain An-24s on domestic routes, and the much older soviet fleet propping up the schedule with occasional charter work. Problem now with the war in Ukraine is the lack of support for the An-148s. This means all international routes now have to be flown by the 204s, with much older aircraft (Tu-134s, Il-18) having to be used domestically. Personally think that after the borders re-open, North Korea will have to rely more on Chinese and Russian airlines for international travel. Do you think the light western aircraft (P-750s etc) acquired by North Korea might have a future with Air Koryo?

Im certainly not an expert, just an enthusiast, but I’m sure they could at least find spare parts for their Tu-204 and 154s; the 204s are still in production and the 154s only left production ten years ago, after nearly 1,000 were built 🤷‍♂️

I watched a 67 year old Boeing KC135 tanker on Flight Radar24 flying around the Black Sea, so yes age is not an indicator of ability to do its job! Great video by the way.

Hi Coby. I flew from Beijing to Pyongyang back in 2014 at the beginning of my 10 day tour. It was a Tupplov air raft and to be honest it was a really good flight and the aircraft appeared in nice condition. I was aware of Air Koryo,s 1 star rating before I went, but that didn’t bother me. In fact the worst thing about the flight was the awful burger in a bun thing they served. The return flight with them was also great.

In my opinion, rhe Comac Programm will probably be the number one flare of hope for Air Koryo to upgrade their fleet

What about the Xian MA60? (and it's variants). Perfectly fine regional aircraft which already have been delivered to neighbors of China like Laos. I am not sure which routes Air Koryo flies, but it's range is sufficient for flying to Beijing.

Flying this airline is the extreme sport of plane spotters.

Planes that have flown that much time without technical problems and an airline with no fatalities since (sorta) 1980, I'll board anytime!!

They can't buy the numerous used aircraft on the market? I'm sure there's a way to funnel them through a neutral country.

Meanwhile, North Korean SkyTrax ranks Air Koryo as five stars and everyone else as one star.

Flew three times with Air Koryo about a decade ago, twice with a Ilyushin Il-62M, and once with the much more modern Tupolev Tu-204 (which actually are allowed to fly to Europe, and have done so a few times). I had plans for another trip in 2015 for the 60th anniversary of Air Koryo, which not only would have included flights in and out of the country with the Ilyushin, but also several domestic flights with much older planes, but that whole trip got cancelled when North Korea closed its border entirely because of the Ebola outbreak back then. But honestly, I never been concerned with the safety of those planes. Flying in general is so extremely safe, and even if these don't meet the highest international standards, would they be more dangerous than, say, driving a car or a bike? It's not like those Ilyushins are rickety contraptions, they're just old and even seem quite well kept. And on those Ilyushins, there's always a couple of mechanics on board as apparently in China they don't know how to service these planes anymore. Flying with Air Koryo is also quite a different experience than with most others. I mean, no safety instructions, although on the Tupolev you'll be wished a safe flight on behalf of the Great (and very dead) Leader Kim Il-Sung. On inbound flights from China you might get a decent meal, on outbound flights usually their infamous "hamburger". And the surprisingly decent Ryongsong beer. You want something to read? You can get a North Korean newspaper or magazine in a variety of languages... But what stood out most to me was the sound of those Ilyushins....so loud, so high pitched. Unlike any other plane I've ever been on. For a little taste of that: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/d8CbmcalsLK6go0.html

As an incurable Avgeek, I was part of an Aviation Tour in May, 2013 and privileged to experience all aircraft types with the exception of the AN-2, the IL-14, the helicopters and the shorter version, the TU-204-300. A few of my video footages have been shared in this video with the source of JUST PLANES and can be seen in full length in my video channel. I would say, it is safe to fly these aircraft, as safe travel and the image of Air Koryo matters most to the North Korean Government. The planes are maintained well and other aircraft seem to be used as parts sponsors. On my trip, all 12 flights were absolutely on-time, if not too say, even early, however I can only speak for myself. Last but not least, I have my fair share of doubts about SKYTRAX ratings.

A great presentation, thank you. But between the brand new flawed Maxes and the ancient Iljusins and Tupolevs, we can only toss the dice...

I flew Air Koryo in 2013, Beijing-Pyongyang-Beijing, on a TU-204. While I didn't have any safety concerns, as the TU-204 was still fairly new at the time I flew and is considerably more modern than most of their fleet, I didn't have high expectations for the flight. The check-in didn't open on time in Beijing and when it did, we were tucked away in a remote corner of the old terminal. I'm not sure if the people checking us in were Air Koryo staff or a Chinese handling agent, but they wore a very basic uniform and little Kim badges. There were a lot of generals around, checking in huge amounts of boxes of God-Knows-What, I found it funny they used iPhones. At the gate, we were next to a Korean Air flight to ICN, I somewhat expected some of the Koreans to chat, but I saw no mingling. We boarded pretty much on time and it was fairly normal. As we boarded, North Korean music played through the cabin. While the seats were pretty comfortable, there were obviously no modern features like USB charging or personal TV screens. What was quite odd was that there was a large gap between us tourists (about 30 in total) and the generals who all sat several rows behind us (one or two of whom smoked during the flight), in a curtained-off rear cabin. We had to pass by these men to get to the toilet. There were also 3 or 4 empty rows between foreigners and Koreans on our flight. We got given food and a drink before we even left the gate, which was very odd, and then no service for the rest of the flight. As we pushed back the safety video played. It looked very dated, like a corporate promotion video from the early 1980s. We taxied for ages and then throttled up to take off, only for the plane to make it about halfway down the runway and then slowed down and exited pretty promptly. We went back to the gate, and an hour later, after some engineers came and inspected the plane and a massive storm cloud passed, we taxied to another runway, seemingly where no other traffic was departing from, and we departed straight out. The inflight entertainment was a mix of Korean war movies and outright anti-western propaganda. You had no choice but to listen, as the movie blared out through the whole cabin, There was also a Korean newspaper to read, but no inflight magazine. About half way into the flight we got given landing papers for the DPRK and shortly after passing over North Korean airspace, an announcement came from the cockpit thanking the eternal guidance of Kim Il Sung to get us there. No further announcements were made until landing. Upon landing, it was clear half the Air Koryo fleet hadn't moved for some time as the other aircraft seemed to be missing engines and one case, nosegear. Another was missing a tail. We taxied for a while and came to an abrupt halt on what I assume was a stand. The army welcomed the planed and we walked over to the (now demolished) terminal. The new terminal was only just starting to be built then. Immigration and customs were surprisingly easy and friendly and we were out of the airport about 90 minutes after landing. For some inexplicable reason, baggage handling was incredibly slow. It looked like there were plenty of people around the airport. On the way back we got to the airport right as check-in was closing. There really wasn't much to see or do in Pyongyang Airport. A tiny coffee shop, a shop that sold some expensive duty-free and souvenirs and an outdoor area where you could see the planes, although most were quite far away from the terminal. We were allowed to take photos to our heart's content, and the soldiers practically encouraged it. Our aircraft was the same as the one we took to Pyongyang a week earlier, although this time it was parked on a very remote stane and we had to take a surprisingly modern airside bus to it. The return flight was a carbon copy of the first, with the same music playing on boarding, and the same movies playing in the same order, only this time we got food in the air (exactly the same mystery meat burger, which was cold) and they gave us a copy of a North Korean newspaper, in English. I did notice some people folding the paper in half, which I thought wasn't allowed as it had an image of the leader on the front page, but perhaps as they were leaving North Korea they didn't care. We had exactly the same crew as the previous flight and landed at the exact same gate in Beijing. All in all, a very interesting experience, although I'm in no rush to go back to North Korea, the airline and TU-204 were both perfectly pleasant, if not a little strange, to fly with.

Thanks for the tutorial! I'll try this out later!

Who else noticed the mid -air reverse thrust at 5:59

If Air Koryo is the only airline with a 1 star rating, then the people at Skytrax haven't flown RYANAIR yet! 😂

Your channel is a trouvaille! I am a beginner economist, and for me it is very valuable to know more about the state difference industries are in. So I encourage you to make more videos uncovering and explaining the nuances of the industry, thank you very very much! :)

Lol at the jet that hit the reverse thrust before even touching down lol far put

As a retired airline pilot (and an aircraft mechanic before that) I wouldn’t walk under one of their jets let alone get IN one.

Great video! Rarely does anyone speak about North Korea unless they are doing something, we in the west, find reprehensible. Great job of being super informative!

most people don't realize that we still have a lot of 50s and 60s cessna and beech around. It's all about the maintainance!

5:50 That mid air reverser deployment LOL

Air Koryo is Singapore Airlines compared to ANY airline from my Country, Venezuela 🇻🇪. I worked some time in the maintenance hangar for LASER airlines (the worstest of the worst) and the quantity of unsafe operations and procedure that I've saw there, literally made me resign because I knew that I will see a deadly accident (both in the hangar and with the passenger filled "wrecks"-airplanes-) really soon. Venezuela haves the oldest planes in the world in operations. Laser and Aserca still have DC-9s flying and you can have and idea on how good is the ingenieering those planes, that they still fly without having any good maintenance since the last 30 years. As Incredible as this might sound, 40 years ago, VIASA the main Venezuelan airline was considered among the 3 best airlines in the world competing against Swissair and Pan Am for a long period of time. The Social-Comunism from the late 90s up to this day destroyed the whole country included the airline business.

i would fly with an airline which has a track record of not a single accident since last 40 years rather than reputable airlines with track records of accidents.

Irkut mc 21-300 for medium range and sukhoi ssj 100 and il 114 for short range flights !!!

Glad to hear someone being so positive about Russian aircraft manufacturing perspectives - even I wasn't that optimistic.

Yeah, I did the NK trip. flew in a Tupolov. It felt like I was flying on a plane from the 80's with the little ash tray in the arm rest, and the terrible rough fabric on the seat. and of course there was a lot of wear and tear on the carpet runner on the floor. But seemed OK. Wasn't a long flight from Beijing to Pyongyang.

With the Antonov situation, it also doesn’t help that Ukraine doesn’t even recognize the DPRK as a legitimate government of the Korean Penninsula

I flew Air Koryo to DPRK in 2007 on an Ilyushin-62 very smooth ride Beijing to Pyongyang. Excellent flight service, very satisfying and tasty meal in flight. Honestly it was a first rate flying experience.

Surely spare parts for Soviet era planes can be fabricated by any good blacksmith?

I’m did once fly from Beijing to Pyongyang DPRK on a rainy day in 1989 on a Koryo Airlines jet. It was a petrifying experience but not for the reason you might imagine. The flight was fine and we all landed safely onto the wet runway but the aircraft for some reason stopped taxiing well short of the terminal building and the passengers were asked to disembark. 150 or so North Koreans descended the stairs in heavy rain to find the buses hadn’t arrived so decided to stand under the wings for shelter. 100% of the Koreans then decided to light up their cigarettes all at the same time after the long flight oblivious to the fact that they were standing under 2 huge fuel tanks!! I’ve never moved so fast.

Nice video, but I just want to point out the Skytrax isn't taken seriously within the industry.

Fascinating, brilliant analysis as usual.

Just canceled my flight on Air Koryo. Thanks to this channel.

Well-presented. I'm thinking there are two more solutions. 1. Move Air Koryo completely out of North Korea. Or 2. Change North Korea. Not seeing either happening anytime soon, least of all voluntarily. :)

Russia still has a lot of Tu-154s abandoned. They are not so fuel efficient, so they are not used. Still they are still in good shape. North Korea could buy the most fresh ones.

The fact you said old and followed it up with “built in the 90s” made me cry.

Very well presented. Good job!

Even though Kim Jong Il is deceased, I still cannot think of North Korea without thinking about the film, "Team America World Police"... and how it lampooned Kim Jong IL !!! "I'm so ronery!!!"😆

Man, it would be cool if production engines had those nifty LEDs in them. You could make them red for faster speed, blue for better cooling, or green for "eco mode". 🙃

The content of this video enriched my knowledge very much, how wonderful!

I flew Air Koryo. It was quiet nice and we had heaps of space.

Hell there are still some 737 Jurassics flying around in Canada, and it seems like with good maintenance an aircraft can fly basically forever.

I'm tired of creators telling me to hit the bell and subscribe; just put your videos out man and focus on creating good content. If you do that, then naturally people will subscribe. But damn just stop with the patronizing.

excellent video very insightful

Ryanair: Hold my beer 🍺

From what I saw, Air Koryo seems better than some airlines.

The simpler, more cost effective option at the moment is to develop a stronger maintenance program. Aircraft are generally maintained well enough that age really has little to no bearing on safety.

Hey Cobe, maybe they should rename the North Korean Airline, Air Chance! LOL

Totally want to fly Air Koryo one day.

amazing video!

Cool Video

Comac also has a Widebody C929 coming in a few years. Great video, though some slight statistical errors.

great work, well done

New sub here really like the knowledge u kicking my guy✌🏾♥️👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 and the music in the background is sweet💪🏾

Option four: the country could stop acting like a gangster child and join the civilized world. Least likely.

The dopamine hits real hard when I hear Coby say “let me explain” 😂

The main Tu-204-300s used on international routes are relatively new, from the 2000s. The EU did ban the airline from 2008 due to poor transparency with regards to maintenance, but the ban was lifted again in 2010. The problem now is sanctions, which don't allow the airline to fly to Europe.

Still remember flying on an Air Koryo IL62 to Zurich back when they flew there. Here’s some context. It was December 21, I was in Beijing on business and needed to get home for Christmas. My flight on United was canceled. The next available flight direct to SFO (where me and my entire family were gonna meet at my sisters house) was on Christmas Day. I was so bummed until I looked over at the Air Koryo check-in counter. Saw a flight to Pyongyang on a TU154, I asked the check in agent about a flight to Zurich via Pyongyang. To my luck there was a flight to Zurich that would leave me with a 2 hour stop in Pyongyang, if PERFECT! Instantly booked my flight on Swiss from ZUR to SFO. Got to fly on a TU154 and IL62! Even treated myself to seat 1A on both AK flights and even the Swiss flight thanks to my secret stash of Star Alliance points.

4:18 Wrong, the C919 has 800+ orders from 7 airlines and 21 leasing companies.

Plot twist: Air Koreo buys its planes from eBay

Great video👍

Air Koryo has had way less incidents than most Western Airlines. I’d feel safe on Air Koryo over any other airline

I flew with koryo from Beijing to Pyongyang. They gave us two meals for dinner and lots of beer. The planes were a bit sketchy

I flew many times these planes in Ukraine and Russia (Tu-134, Tu-154, Yak-40, Yak-42, An-2, An-24, An-148, L-410 - the last one was made in Czech Republic). It was a phantasmagoric experience when during descend in Yak-42 clouds of vapour started blowing out from the sealing of the cabin 😅 In general, actually interesting, but I wouldn't say "nice experience". No wish to repeat it. It is probably better to try vintage airplanes in EU or US.

I only just noticed that Aeroflot still has the hammer and sickle in their logo!

I would love to fly Air Koryo. The quirkier the airline, the better, PLUS flying old Soviet airliners !!!!

option 4: air koryo can build paper planes and fly those instead

Everyone watching this, subscribe! This channel is pure gold, and I’m not even an aviation expert

Me: this guy can't spell. Me a minute in: Ahh, more aviation content. Subscribed.

I died when I saw that jet reverse thrust before touch down @5.52 lol

I’d fly Air Koryo, not sure if they’d let me aboard tho :(

I'm positive Kim, at least, flies on a nice private jet. I've flown on an old Avro RJ85 before. That was cool.

If North Korea got new aircrafts to replace, and don’t use it that often, then it would be one of the best and well maintained planes

Excellent research

The will be able to get the TU-214's but not the newer jets. A pretty good plane albeit a bit dated.

I'd hang on to my B757's too. Pound for pound one of the best performance airliners ever developed.

It's in my bucket list to fly Air Koryo. I hope to do it someday. Not easy getting a visa.

Just subscribed now much love to you from Nigerian 🇳🇬🇳🇬🇳🇬

Omg, Coby. For any airline outside the "first" world the Skytrax rating is a legalized black PR and calomny agency, and you're slipping dangerously same way. Do you realise the pressure those guys are standing against? Being Air Koryo and having no crashes for 40 years means: their safety expertise is 10++ on a 5-star scale.

Great video, and no complaints from an avgeek :) Though I'm just wondering: couldn't they possibly pull of something like Iran, i.e. buy Western planes from the black market via countries such as Azerbaijan? Even though I imagine the willingness to do business with North Korea is even smaller than with Iran.

I have flown Air Koryo in its newest Ilyushin Il-62M (Pyongyang-Bejing) and perception as passenger was way better than many other carriers I have tried.

Awesome Air Koryo!