Review: Air Koryo Tu-204-100 Economy Flight

Visiting the DPRK (= North Korea) was a unique experience for sure. I entered the DPRK from Dandong and proceeded by train to Pyongyang. The return trip was scheduled by air as I wanted to apply for the visa-free transit. I was pretty curious to fly with Air Koryo.

I was dropped off by my (compulsory) tour guide at the airport of Pyongyang. I filled in the customs declaration form and went through passport control. I quickly passed through and the same as the security check. Despite reports of people who claim their phones, cameras were checked, this was not the case. I had a bottle of water with me and even that was allowed, which is great.

The form asks me if I have a killing device with me. Of course not.

This is how the gate area looks like. There are plenty of shops if you decide to buy a souvenir from the DPRK. A bomb basket is airport equipment I’ve never seen before though.

When the time came to board, I realised this flight will be nearly empty. Indeed, about 1/5th of the cabin was full.

Too bad I couldn’t take any good photos from my window. The cold-formed ice on the windows on the outside.
I have taken some pictures of the seats and the seat pocket in front of the passenger.
 
The crew walked by to offer us a newspaper. It was in Korean but if you ask for an English version, they’ll bring you one.

After a while, the aircraft took off as scheduled. The ice disappeared and I had a good view from my window again.

The meal service began and we were offered a drink and the notorious Air Koryo burger. To be honest I actually liked it.
As time passed by, I saw another aircraft through my window.

There was some kind of duty-free shopping afterwards. They were selling ginseng injections which cure a ton of diseases according to them!

Finally, before landing I took a cabin photo.
This one is after landing.

Not a bad experience at all. The burger is not that bad as most people report on the internet. The cabin crew is friendly and speaks English. I have nothing to complain about. It is a short flight and Tupolev seems to fly smoothly.