How to Book Travel on Air Koryo

North Korea is a country that's still rather closed to tourism. Limited traffic across the border has kept North Korea's only flight service, the state airline Air Koryo, small, with infrequent flights that are difficult to book. Nevertheless, if you need to get to North Korea on Air Koryo, here's how.

Things You'll Need

• Computer with Internet access

Instructions

Book Your Travel to North Korea on Air Koryo

1. Contact Air Koryo at [e-mail] to arrange your reservations. This is the only way to book directly through the airline.

2. Visit the Air Koryo Web site for basic information on the airline, including flight times (see Resources below).

3. Fly to Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport (FNJ). Ongoing travel to other parts of North Korea will probably have to be arranged separately. Air Koryo is said to provide domestic flights; but this is not confirmed.

4. Fly into North Korea from three possible cities: Beijing, Vladivostok or Khabarovsk (seasonal). Other routes are either by charter or occasion (Macau, Moscow and Yangyang are a few common locations used in the past).

5. Be prepared for extra fees and a slow booking process. All travel must be booked through an unpredictable, bureaucratic North Korean government. Extra charges are incurred by foreign travelers, especially American.

Tips & Warnings

• As a tourist, your best bet for travel into North Korea is through a travel tour company. The company will arrange flight plans, necessary visas and hotel accommodations for you.

• The only dependable route is the flight from Beijing to Pyongyang and vice versa. Other flights are subject to cancellation for seasonal reasons and/or low passenger totals.

• There is no English booking Web site or phone number for Air Koryo.

• Consider China Southern Airlines as an alternative to Air Koryo. China Southern has started flying into North Korea as of 2006. Tourism programs for North Korea will start using China Southern soon.

• North Korea has very strict entry and exit requirements. Depending on the situation, your request to book flight on Air Koryo can be rejected. Attempting to sidestep any of these restrictions can provoke serious consequences.

• Attempting to book travel by plane to North Korea by yourself is highly discouraged. Language barriers and a complicated bureaucratic process make some sort of intermediary necessary. Business will be simpler and quicker via established agencies who have done business with North Korea in the past.

• There have been no significant recorded incidents yet, but some of Air Koryo's planes are over 40 years old and may not all be up to current safety codes. Consider that Air Koryo is one of only 2 airlines to get a 1-star rating and one of the airlines banned from entering EU airspace for reasons of safety.