First commercial flight after COVID is cancelled by North Korea with no explanation given

 First commercial flight after COVID is cancelled by North Korea with no explanation given

Since early 2020, when North Korea closed its borders in reaction to the Covid-19 epidemic, the country has been largely cut off from the outside world.

Beijing: On Monday, the official airline of North Korea was scheduled to operate its first commercial flight in more than three years, but it was unexpectedly cancelled just before takeoff.

Since early 2020, when North Korea closed its borders in reaction to the Covid-19 epidemic, the country has been largely cut off from the outside world.

On Monday, media representatives gathered at Beijing's Capital International Airport in anticipation of Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, which was scheduled to touch down at 09:50 (0150 GMT).

However, over two hours after it was supposed to arrive, a signboard in the airport abruptly announced that it had been cancelled, drawing moans of dismay from the journalists who had been waiting to interview some of the isolated North's first foreign visitors in years.

Customer service at Beijing Airport informed AFP that the troubled state airline of Pyongyang, Air Koryo, had not provided a justification for the cancellation.

When questioned about the cancellation on Monday, the Chinese foreign ministry would only say that Beijing and Pyongyang commercial flights had been given the go-ahead to resume.

According to Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, "during the autumn and summer months flight season... the Chinese side confirmed flight plans for consumers, which include the Pyongyang-Beijing and Beijing-Pyongyang flights of Air Koryo."

A guy wearing a vest snoozing on the sofa in the dimly lit room was surprised when AFP reporters knocked on the locked glass doors of the Air Koryo headquarters in Beijing on Monday afternoon.

A second guy who opened the door repeatedly said "we don't know" in response to AFP's inquiries.

As a third guy entered, his shirt sporting an emblem with photos of the nation's two past presidents, he directed reporters to the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the governing party in North Korea, for "accurate" information.

- Delegation from Taekwondo

There are more and more indications that Pyongyang may be loosening up on border restrictions after three years of Covid-induced isolation.

The first foreign dignitaries to pay a visit to North Korea in years, Chinese and Russian officials witnessed a military parade in the nation's largest city last month.

A group of athletes was permitted last week by Pyongyang to travel to Kazakhstan to compete in taekwondo.

According to reports from the Yonhap and Kyodo news agencies, a group of individuals thought to be North Korean athletes crossed the land border into China last Wednesday before continuing on to Beijing and then taking a flight to Central Asia.

It was anticipated that Air Koryo will operate its first commercial flight in more than three years on Monday.

The Unification Ministry in Seoul, which oversees ties with the North, told AFP that it was "absolutely nothing we are aware of" that the flight had been cancelled.

An official stated that there have been some indications that North Korea is reopening its borders. professional website Air Koryo was scheduled to operate two flights from Vladivostok, Russia, to Pyongyang on Friday and next Monday, according to NK News on Monday.