World's Most Bizarre Airline - North Korea's Air Koryo

you can fly on this Airline and visit a museum at the same time everything looks so outdated it's like travel past time it looks completely different to all the other airlines I've flown on this is the world's OnStar Airline air coyo but are they really terrible so I visited North Korea several times on organized Aviation tours by juet travel why going to North Korea though I think for most AF Geeks the answer is pretty straight simple to fly on the Vintage Soviet fleets of air coyo think about the opportunity to fly on all of these airplanes that is almost extinct not even available in Russia but they're all flying in North Korea so the only way to enter North Korea is from China or Russia by plane or by train the first time I flew to North Korea was from Beijing on board air coil illusion 62 so the airline doesn't sell tickets online you have to join an organized tour in order to get your air tickets and also your visa to North Korea looks like a blue piece of tourist card that they don't stem on your passport so I still remember that day I went on board and went all the way to the back set on the very last row window and next to two North Korean gentlemen on board and when the engine started after push back oh it was like music to the ear it was so screaming loud [Music] [Applause] [Music] so the flight was about 1 and 1/ half hour long and uh we flew northeasterly uh out of China towards North Korea when we passed to yalu River there was an announcement made on board we are now in North Korea so what to expect on the onear airline actually we're all served a free meal and drinks on this one and a half hour international flight the flight attendant uh were in their old form in the red color they were running up and down the aisle to surf on this short flight and they're very efficient and polite but they are not very happy with people taking pictures around and then Here Comes The Landing it was one of the screaming the loudest noise I ever heard from an engine [Music] I was told pongyang airport doesn't actually have an ILS so all our landing were visual approach and uh after the landing I went up to the cockpit they were kind enough to open the door to let me see the massive green color carpet of the illusion 62 which requires a team of five technician to fly the airplane two pilots one engineer one radio controller and one Navigator so after landing we were taken to the old Passenger Terminal Pyongyang it's old building and it was completely dark they just switch on the lights when passengers start to arrive the biggest plane ever landed at pong Yen I believe was a 747400 from South Korea by Asiana Airlines in 2008 carrying the New York philarmonic band to perform in North Korea so after passing the immigration and the custom I remember at that trip we all have to surrender our mobile phones you will get them again on the day when you depart from North Korea so after our arrivals we met with two young ladies there are tour guides from Korea international travel company which is a government Department that handle most visitors our tour guides are actually very fluent in English and they're very knowledgeable about their country I have to say they are probably uh Elites among the North Korean to be able to meet foreigners representing their countries they're very well educated at the same time they serve as a Remer OBS serving you uh during your whole stay in North Korea so by joining an aviation tour means we get to fly around the country and see way more than those are on a standard 5 days forn night fixed itinerary just normally stay in pong Yan and go to DMZ and back we actually flew a 1960 made illusion 18 from pongyang to Sam Jong which is at the very north of the country bordering China [Music] first class BR in the B [Music] it was an incredible flight with the noise from a massive props four massive props of Chango uh 20 engines and I got to give them credits by keeping the plane in the pristine and in fact they upgraded Interiors later on as well and then completely manual flying a heavy prop and then we got to climb up to mount PTO which is a sacred Mountain for all Koreans uh which is also rumored the de leader was born in M pako there's no secret there's chronic power shortage in North Korea when we got to mount pakau the cable car didn't run so we actually have to physically climb up to the top of the mountain uh viewing spot and and actually have to walk down the cable car track all uh burning many thousands of calories that day so during the pandemic air Coy the national airline North Korea did not fly outside North Korea for almost 3 years as the country was completely closed only until late 23 they started resuming flight to Beijing and later to Shenyang and V Vol stock in Russia there's only three active airplane currently flying two of them at the T BL 204 and one Ukrainian made antina 148 are currently active no one have any news about whether the Soviet illusion 62 or the tof 154 or 134 or the Antonov 24 or 8 these planes are still currently flying I would imagine they would need to keep them active inside the country uh they would just routinely Fly for a few hours keeping the plane going so in 2014 the second time I traveled to North Korea again was from Beijing but this time I was on board a tup of 204 a modern russian-made twin engine Jets instead of the uh Soviet illusion 62 which was actually banned from going to China due to the noise abatement issue so there's a couple interesting observation on this flight the flight attendant has changed uniform into a dark uniform a new uniform so this time in business class you get a sandwich and a beer uh but in economy all you get is a burger with a mysterious piece of meats in the middle of the sandwich wrapped by paper fly 10 and the game were very Smiley and they tell you no photos but really nobody obliged it's such a rare country and rare Airline everybody was taking as much as they could on the flight and after landing I got to see the more than Tu 204 carpet here it is on this this trip we were also able to try out a brand new [Music] airplane the So the antenna 148 is the brand new airport that air coil has received since 1985 when they received a two Tu 134 Factory new that was more than a quarter of a century ago we did a short sightseeing flight take off from Pyongyang [Music] I'm back after 40 minutes uh when we came back it was a really hard Landing enjoy it so the rest of the air coyo fleets like the illusion 76 2 BL 134 2 154 and the Anon 24 are all equally enjoyable we flew on all of these types during every Aviation tour but there's no news whether they are currently active I won't be surprised aoy is trying their best to maintain them and fly them from time to time domestically just keeping the airframe airworthy who knows so here's the question can you walk alone and explore North Korea at your own pace and the answer is no you must be accompanied by not only one but two tour guides at all times so since the tour guys accompanying us everywhere and observing us are they scary no they're actually very fun to be with they're extremely intelligent and very skillful at singing and playing instruments especially at a Caro [Music] [Applause] case now let's talk about a little bit about the tour I went on inside North Korea of course is a heavily controlled tour we're on a fixed itinerary and we're taken to a lot of spots that is is celebrating the country and we must bow in front of the dear leader stature those who do not respect the country and the leaders will be taken noted by the minders the only place you get to meet a lot of North Korean folks is inside the pong Macho which is deep under the ground and pretty Grand and they were using all these uh ex East German uh decommissioned Macho cars uh running around 30 years later inside Pyongyang now let's talk about one of the most important thing which is food I would say the food is simple and maybe pretty bad in the countryside you might have to watch out from food poisoning of overeating the seafood in North Korea we have quite a few people got really sick so now let's talk about the hotel where do we stay in North Korea our tour actually stated in the Twin Towers of coyo hotel which is considered a fourstar local hotel and here are what the rooms look like uh they're actually have very few Hotel receiving foreign tourist so the most memorable trip for me to North Korea happened in 2016 we attended the first International Air Show from North Korea the wongan air show it Felts like turning 50 years back in time there [Music] [Music] during the festival you will have lots of fun including siing fly of w by different plans of choice I hope all the festival makers from home and abroad will have a great and memorable time during the stay here thank you it also combined military it is very rare to see the North Korean Air Force in action at least showing to the Western World so right after the air coo illusion 18 there's the Korean People's Army Air Force me29 action and indeed it really was like an air show in any other country the whine of jet engines the thump of distant p music Flags flapping and the smell of cooked meat on the breeze the pace of the display was impressive with one aircraft displaying while the next sat at the holding Point ready for takeoff and the one after that starting engines in the parking area we asked the organizers how they did such a slick job on their first ever Air Show and they said they watched videos and DVDs of riat fbra and other famous events abroad they did a fantastic job job the crowd are so excited every time when there's a helicopter flying over past them or whatever and with all the music going on and cheering you know it could be anywhere but we have to remind oursel we are in North Korea the afternoon was kicked off by another smashing heat the me21 a pair of female Pilots were piloting the meet [Music] 21 and this was followed by the lowf flight pass of a four engine illusion 62 [Music] [Music] and then there are M 17 helicopter illusion 76 and [Music] M24 and when they pass by you smell the jet F in the air it smells great it is raw Aviation Mega Fun the air show was also an insight into North Korean life as tourists had never really been allowed to mix with locals before but we were free to roam in the crowd of 20,000 North Koreans I was impressed by The Pavilion selling souvenirs clothing soft Furnishing toys showing a a degree of Commerce and private Enterprise not usually apparent and this is a great opportunity and the only time we are actually allowed to Mingo freely with the North Koreans there at the air show to end today's video I have to say I'm very grateful for my Aviation hobby that allows me to go to far from places like North Korea the North Koreans are very poor and lives in challenging conditions but just looking at the way they maintain these vintage airplane kept them air worthy for so many years they're extremely resilient people I wish them and the airline air coyo the very best for many more years to come thanks for watching today

Channel: Sam Chui

Views: 5,145,414

Keywords: Air Koryo, North Korea, North Korea Tour, North Korea Airline

Id: 8zLXw7SQvAk

Length: 18min 2sec (1082 seconds)

Published: Sat May 11 2024