AIR KORYO

'Air Koryo Korean Airways' (formerly ''Chosŏn Minhang (조선민항)'', short form 'Air Koryo') is the state-owned national airline of North Korea, based in Pyongyang. It operates international services and occasional charter flights to points in Asia, Africa and Europe. It is based at Sunan International Airport^[1] in Sunan, a suburb north of Pyongyang.
The Head Office of Air Koryo is located in the Sunan district, Pyongyang, and it has offices in Beijing, Shenyang, Macau, Bangkok, Berlin, Moscow, as well as a sales agency in Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo.

Contents

History

Destinations

Charters

Domestic Services

European Ban

Fleet

Incidents and accidents

Banned in the EU

External links

References

History

Main articles: Choson Minhang Korean Airways

The airline was established in 1954 and started operations on 21 September 1955. It was formerly known as Chosonminhang Korean Airways (CAAK) and was formed to succeed SOKAO, the joint Soviet-North Korean airline established in 1950. CAAK began operations with Lisunov Li-2, Antonov An-2 and Ilyushin Il-12 aircraft. Ilyushin Il-14 and Ilyushin Il-18 turboprops were added to the fleet in the 1960s.
Jet operation commenced in 1975, when the first Tupolev Tu-154 was delivered for services from Pyongyang to Prague, East Berlin and Moscow. However, because the Tu-154 did not have the sufficient range, the plane had to land not only at Irkutsk, but also at Novosibirsk. The Tu-154 fleet was increased at the start of the 1980s and the first Ilyushin Il-62 was delivered in 1982, allowing CAAK to offer a direct non-stop service to Moscow for the first time. During this period, the flight even went to Sofia as well.
The end of the Cold War and the collapse of communism in Europe saw a vast reduction in the number of international services offered. CAAK became Air Koryo in 1993. No new aircraft have been purchased since 1990 and the present fleet is elderly, with some aircraft being almost 40 years old.

Destinations

Air Koryo serves the following international scheduled destinations (according to Air Koryo March 2006 timetable and OAG flight guide):

China

★ Beijing - (Beijing Capital Airport) (JS151/152 and JS251/252) three times weekly

★ Shenyang - (Shenyang Taoxian International Airport) (JS155/156) twice weekly

Russia

★ Khabarovsk - (Khabarovsk Novy Airport) (JS253/254) ''seasonal service''

★ Vladivostok - (Vladivostok International Airport) (JS271/272) once weekly
''The route to Vladivostok is subject to frequent cancellation because of low passenger numbers''.

Charters

Relatively common destinations for charter flights include Shenzhen (JS137/138) and Macau (JS187/188), however, occasional ad-hoc charter flights, mostly on diplomatic or freight duties, have served Moscow (JS215/216), Sofia (JS217/218), Zurich, Prague, Budapest, Seoul (JS815/816 and 817/818), Busan, Yangyang (JS801/802) and some Japanese cities, mostly Nagoya (JS831/832) (NKM, Aichi Prefecture Nagoya Airfield).
The first regular charter flights between North Korea and South Korea began in 2002. The first Air Koryo flight to touch down in South Korea was in August 2000, carrying a North Korean diplomatic delegation for talks with the South.

Domestic Services

As North Korea's sole aviation entity, Air Koryo is responsible for the overseas transportation of government officials. It claims to offer domestic services in addition to its international flights. It is believed that the only scheduled domestic flight is Pyongyang - Hamhung - Chongjin on a once weekly basis, though there is no reliable evidence to suggest that this is the case. Chronic fuel shortages are thought to keep the domestic services grounded. Most domestic flights are usually charter services, flying foreign tourists from Pyongyang to Samjiyeon for tours to Baekdu-san.
Domestic routes include:

★ P'yongyang (FNJ)

★ Chongjin

★ Hamhung

★ Kaesong

★ Kilju

★ Kanggye

★ Sinuiju

★ Wonsan

European Ban

On 29 August 2005 Air Koryo was one of five airlines banned from entering French airspace on safety grounds by DGAC, the French civil aviation authority ^[2]. As of 22 March 2006, Air Koryo, along with 92 other passenger and cargo airlines, was banned from entering EU airspace ^[3]. Air Koryo does not have an air operators certificate.

Fleet

As of May 2007, the Air Koryo fleet consists of the following aircraft:Aerotransport.org Air Koryo fleet details

★ 3 Antonov An-24RV

★ 2 Antonov An-24V

★ 1 Ilyushin Il-18D

★ 1 Ilyushin Il-18V

★ 4 Ilyushin Il-62M

★ 3 Ilyushin Il-76MD

★ 2 Tupolev Tu-134B

★ 1 Tupolev Tu-154B-2

★ 3 Tupolev Tu-154B

★
★ On order: 2 Tupolev Tu-204-300

Incidents and accidents

★ On July 1, 1983 a CAAK (predecessor to Air Koryo) Ilyushin 62M on a non-scheduled international passenger flight from Pyongyang, North Korea (Sunan International Airport) to Conakry, Guinea (Conakry International Airport) crashed at the Fouta Djall Mountains in Guinea. All 23 persons onboard were killed and the aircraft was written off. ^[4]

★ On August 15, 2006 aircraft from Air Koryo (Tupolev 154B-2) on an international scheduled passenger flight from Beijing, China (Beijing Capital Airport) to Pyongyang, North Korea (Sunan International Airport) experienced a runway mishap (exited runway) during landing rollout after landing in bad weather at Sunan International Airport. No injuries were reported and damage to plane was minor.^[5][6]

Banned in the EU

Air Koryo is on the List of air carriers banned in the EU (as of July 2006).
The rationale for the decision by the European Commission was the following (paraphrased):


★ During ramp inspections in France and Germany there was obtained verified evidence of serious safety deficiencies on the part of Air Koryo. These deficiencies were also identified under the SAFA programme (DGAC/F 2000-210).

★ During other subesquent ramp inspections performed under the SAFA programme Air Koryo persistently failed to address these deficiencies which were previously communicated by France (DGAC/F-2000-895).''

★ Incident-related information of a substantiated and serious nature communicated by France indicated that Air Koryo had latent systemic safety deficiencies.

★ There was a demonstrated lack of ability on the part of Air Koryo to address these safety deficiencies.

★ There was a failure on the part of Air Koryo to respond adequately and in a timely manner to an enquiry by the civil aviation authority of France regarding the safety aspect of its operation, which showed a lack of transparency or communication, which was also demonstrated by the absence of reply to a request by France.

★ The plan for corrective action presented by Air Koryo in response to France's request was not adequate and sufficient in order to correct the identified serious safety deficiencies.

★ The authorities of the DPRK (North Korea) with responsibility for regulatory oversight have not exercised an adequate oversight over Air Koryo, which it is obliged to do under the Chicago Convention.''

★ Therefore and on the basis of the common criteriaFly Well portal (Which contains links to the common air transport policy), ''European Commission'', March 22 2006 the Commission assessed that Air Koryo does not meet the relevant safety standards.Commission Regulation (EC) No 474/2006 of 22 March 2006 (PDF-file), ''European Commission'', March 22 2006

External links

★ Air Koryo at the Korean Friendship Association website.

★ Air Koryo at the Aviation Safety Network Database

★ CAAK (predecessor) at the Aviation Safety Network Database

References

1. Directory: World Airlines
2. 1 BBC News
3. BBC News 22 March 2006
4. Aviation Safety Database report
5. KCountryAdvice&aid=1013618386667 FCO Country report - August 15, 2006 Tu 154 crash
6. Aviation Safety Database report - August 15, 2006 Tupolev 154 crash