AviationGeeks.com - Air Koryo

Air Koryo is the state owned flag carrier of North Korea and based in the capital, Pyongyang. The airline´s fleet is all Russian aircrafts with a combination of Antanov, Ilyushin and Tupolev. The airline allegedly has 3 scheduled international destinations and several charter flights.

Photo by Weimeng

 

 

Name: Air Korya

Owner: North Korea

Headquarters: Pyongyang, North Korea

CEO: Kang Ki Sop

Year founded: 1954

Number of employees:

 

Major Hubs: Sunan International Airport

Destinations: 11

Fleet: Antanov An 24B, Ilyushin IL-18, Ilyushin IL-62M, Tupolev 154B and Ilyushin IL76MD

Fleet size: 40

 

 

Air Koryo predecessor was the Soviet-North Korean airline SOKAO, which was formed in 1950. SOKAO´s fleet was Lisunov LI-2, Antonov AN-2 and the Ilyushin IL-12. The airline was reorganized in 1954 and the name was changed to Choson Minhang CAAK. It received Tupolev Tu-154 in 1975 to operate scheduled services between Pyongyang and Moscow. In 1982, CAAK received Ilyushin Il-62. Air Koryo still operates both the Tu-154 and the Il-62 today. It later received Tupolev Tu-204 and extended their operation to several European destinations. CAAK´s name was changed to Air Koryo in 1993. That same year Air Koryo ordered 3 Ilyushin Il-76 cargo aircraft to transport cargo between Pyongyang and China and Russia.

Photo by Zuguang Lee

 

In 2005, Air Koryo was banned from flying into the European Union. But Air Koryo had been banned from many European countries such as UK and France for a long time prior to 2005. Since March, 2010, Air Koryo will be allowed to fly into the European Union on its Tupolev Tu-204's only.

 

 

Air koryo only has 3 scheduled destinations which are Beijing, Vladivostok or Khabarovsk. It claims on its website to offer several charter operations to destinations such as Macao, Bangkok, Moscow, Sofia, Prague, Zurich and Budapest.

 

 

There are only two recorded accidents for the North Korea´s flag carrier.

 

On 1^st of July, 1983, a Ilyushin 62M from CAAK crashed into the Fouta Djall Mountains in Guinea killing everyone on board. Not much in known about the crash, but it´s thought that 23-24 people got killed in the crash.

 

On 15^th of August, 2006, a Tupolev 154B-2 skidded on the runway in bad weather and didn´t come to a stop until it hit a radar on the airport. There were no fatalities.

 

 

Air Koryo´s fleet is all Russian with Antonov An-24, Ilyushin Il-18D and Ilyushin Il-62M, and Tupolev Tu-154, Tupolev Tu-134B-3 and Tupolev Tu-204-100B. In addition, Air Koryo has 17 Mil Mi-172 helicopters.