Russia has launched direct flights to North Korea with its first service, only once a month, with tickets on sale for $570
Russia launched direct commercial flights to North Korea on Sunday, starting with further signs of close ties with Asian allies supporting the attack in Ukraine.
According to the SheremeTyevo Airma website, the first Moscow-Pyongyan flight run by Russian Nordwind Airlines took off at 1625 GMT.
It is scheduled to land in the North Korean capital in about eight hours.
But initially, the route is only served once a month, the Russian Ministry of Transport said.
Nordwind Airlines carried Russians to European holiday destinations before the EU imposed a ban on Russian flights, but tickets were on sale for 45,000 rubles ($570).
“This is a historic event and strengthens our relationship with our country,” Oleg, a Nordwind employee who manages flights that he doesn’t want to give his full name, told AFP at the airport.
He also refused to say how many passengers there were.
“For the first time in more than 70 years of diplomatic relations, we are starting direct flights between our country’s capitals,” Russian Deputy Minister of Transport Vladimir Poteshkin was quoted as saying by the provincial telegram account.
TASS, a Russian provincial news agency, reported that the first return flight from Pyongyang to Moscow will take place on Tuesday.
Russia and North Korea recovered their train links on June 17 after halting during the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The two countries have developed closer military ties in recent years, with Pyongyang supplying troops and weapons for Russian military operations in Ukraine.
They signed a mutual defense agreement last year when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited North Korea.
North Korea confirmed in April that it had deployed the conditions for soldiers on the frontlines of Ukraine alongside Russian forces for the first time.