SanFranDan

The world's only 'one-star' carrier

• Aram Pan, flew from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, into the communist nation's capital, Pyongyang
• He flew on the Ilyushin Il-18, the Russian made Tupolev Tu-204 and an Mi-17 helicopter
• On board entertainment was limited to only one channel playing DPRK dramas and documentaries

By Sarah Dean for Daily Mail Australia Published: 19:51 EST, 13 October 2014

A deserted airport customs lounge, luggage weighed by hand on an old fashioned scale and a cockpit with no digital assistance, are just some of the sites a photographer from Singapore has captured on camera after flying with the world’s only one-star airline.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/tr...r-airline.html

largeeyes

How in the world did he get to fly in the Huey?

abaheti

That's their version of an Express RJ, maybe...? :-)

Hey, looked clean, had some kind of IFE, a meal, FAs looked friendly/smiling, and looked like decent legroom... strangely compares well to a lot of what we fly these days. :-)

Blueskyheaven

Still think it is better than any US airlines!

eastwest101

A few things to note from the pictures.

Legroom - better than most western airlines
Food - looks fine and again, better quality than most western airlines
Crew - better dressed and probably at least as competent as western airlines
IFE - provided free of charge! and available (unlike some western airlines)
Safety - not hearing about Il-18s/Tu-204s dropping out of the sky every day
Toilets - massive in Il-18 but similarly cramped in Tu-204
Luggage - free checked luggage and no fight for overhead bin space!
Departure times - note "on time performance" compared to western airlines
Arrivals Customs/Immigration - compare queues to arrivals at say LAX!

Looks like fun to me.

uxb

Uhh... yeah... the food was gross. Good thing I had brought bakkwa on the plane. Arrivals was a zoo that we bypassed because we bribed the officer w/ Johnnie Black. Departures was super-quick because the DPRK wanted everyone out fast. It's possible that we indirectly contributed to comrade Generalissimo Kim Jung-un's gout. Also, we were on the same flight as Merrill Newman. You may know him as the guy that decided to tell his hosts that he served in Korea. Smh.

Pat Plus

Meh. Cool pictures but the article doesn't impress me.

I've flown on Air Koryo multiple times. They don't deserve their one-star rating one bit. The new Tu-204 aircraft that serve the Beijing to Pyongyang route look just like any modern airliner, with LCD screens, etc. I'm pretty sure most passengers have no clue they're on a Russian airplane. Service is good, and so is the food when a full hot meal is served (the famous burger, however, not so much.)

The typical mention of "the only one star airline" is getting old. I promise you that Air Koryo is luxury compared to Ryanair. And quite on par with many US airlines.

This was an aviation interest tour - the entire point of the tour is to fly vintage aircraft. And travelers do get to use local airports, which technically are military facilities. No wonder there's traditional scales there.

As for the deserted immigration hall, well indeed, outside normal flight times, it's not like anyone hangs out at the airport. Pyongyang sees a handful of international flights a day at most, and the occasional domestic service. The new airport terminal is an overkill...

uxb

I was served the nasty burger one way and "pizza" the other way. Did you notice the ore-departure music? "Dream" by the Cranberries. I would've went with "Zombie."

BuildingMyBento

I flew with JS in 2010. Not bad in the least, and I was even "upgraded" to a J-class seat from having been randomly selected while boarding.

Upon arrival at FNJ, my (our) mobile phones were confiscated, though they let me keep my laptop and other electronics.

Never for one second have I put any stock in star/diamond/any-ratings system. It's just sensationalism.

uxb

I went last October. We got to keep our phones, but had no service. I was able to pick up a faint signal from the DMZ, but I couldn't get anything out. GPS seemed to work independent of our network status.

Dr. HFH

Interesting. I was in DPRK in 2007. Phone was confiscated on arrival (I had meant to leave it in Beijing, but forgot) but returned to me at the airport when I was leaving. I flew an IL-62 between Beijing and Pyongyang. For me, that was cool because I remember that as the premier long haul aircraft of the Soviets from the 1960s.

Xyzzy

Where does one find out about future runs of this tour? I've never seen any such tour offered before. Sounds like fun!

Mr_Tudball

http://www.juchetravelservices.com/T...n%20Tours.html

You will have a great time. Most of the people on the aviation tours are aviation enthusiasts, so there is plenty of airliner talk. The JS staff and crew were very patient with our photo taking. Just don't take photos of any military stuff.

uxb - I too was on the flight when Merrill Newman was taken off. I am trying to recall who you are.

Pat Plus

For those who are wondering, customs in Pyongyang are typically a breeze these days and cell phones aren't confiscated anymore.

(Note that there are parts of the country where different rules apply, but for run-of-the-mill tourist trips to Pyongyang, the experience has become quite painless.)

alanR

Do you have to take your shoes off? Do they have nude-o-scopes? Do the officials shout at you?