Pyongyang Airport - the international airport of the most closed country

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

In the conditions of the modern world, air flights have become available to almost any country on the planet. However, there are still countries that are closed and isolated from the rest of the world. North Korea or, as it is also called, the DPRK, is a closed communist country shrouded in a halo of mystery. International flights do not fly to Pyongyang Airport, and there are no transfers either. There is only one way to visit it - an official tour, on an old turboprop aircraft, crowded with state security officers.

Airport of a closed country

DPRK is an amazing country. We can say that this is a real open-air museum of the Soviet Union. In this country, there is still a totalitarian communist regime, and there is an iron curtain. However, Pyongyang Airport, which is called Sunan, is considered an international air port. The North Korean side assures that the citizens of the country actively use air travel, and the airport is always filled with tourists. Tounfortunately, this is nothing more than the appearance of the normal operation of the air harbor of the North Korean capital.

DPRK is a very poor country, and the vast majority of the population cannot afford even a taxi, let alone a flight to a resort by plane. It is forbidden even to move around the country without special passes, and the population of Pyongyang is the North Korean party elite, because according to local laws, the right to live in the capital must still be earned. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the airport is in decline, because no one uses it. We can say that it is needed only for receiving rare tourists from other countries and flights of the party elite.

Sunan you don't want to see him

Pyongyang Airport is the very place foreigners get into as soon as they leave the plane. Already on the basis of the appearance of the air harbor, one can draw a conclusion about the city or even the country as a whole. The North Korean government, realizing that this is the case, deliberately creates an artificial appearance of busy airlines. People go to the airport, many even with suitcases. However, there are no flights on the arrivals board. Passengers avoid even looking in the direction of foreigners, and their characteristic gait makes one think that these are not serene travelers, but professional soldiers on a mission. Most likely, the way it is, because even on board the plane that flies to the DPRK there are already state security officers. They accompany the tourist every day. It is forbidden to walk around the city alone.

The situation is similar withan airport with no real passengers. All that tourists see is a well-rehearsed production of normal passenger traffic. Unfortunately, this spoils the overall picture of what is happening in the country. From the beginning, travelers see Sunan in a way they don't want to see him.

However, even here there are exceptions. There are times when the DPRK has a large flow of tourists from South Korea and other countries, then the airport really comes to life, and you can see as many as 5-6 flights on the scoreboard!

Encodings

Pyongyang Airport has its own domestic and international codes, but passengers will not need them, because state security officers will bring them to the aircraft. The country's authorities will not allow self-registration for a flight and landing. According to the IATA system, the airport has the FNJ code, and in the ICAO ZKPY.

Reviews of tourists

Reviews about Pyongyang Airport are very mixed. In this case, everything depends on the citizenship of the person and his worldview. Tourists from Malaysia note that this is a modern airport complex. However, travelers from China, Russia, the USA, Canada or any other developed countries note that the air harbor has enough problems. The old terminal that was used before was closed. The new passenger terminal undoubtedly looks much more beautiful, but at the same time it is very poor. While it still looks good on the outside, everything on the inside leaves much to be desired.

Pyongyang Airport Address

For political reasons, the DPRK is trying not to reveal the exactaddresses of important infrastructure facilities. The airport address cannot be found on Russian or English websites. Street names are not signed even on Google maps. However, you can find the airport complex at the coordinates 3913'30"N 12540'22"E.

However, an ordinary tourist will not need it, because there is no need to puzzle over the question of how to get to Pyongyang airport. It is impossible to come to the DPRK outside of the tourist group, it is also impossible to get lost, because the authorities of the country simply will not allow this.

The group guide will collect all travelers in advance, and then centrally, by specialized buses, the group will be taken to the air station itself.

Aircraft flown by Koreans

An amazing feature of the DPRK is the North Korean airlines. The entire fleet of aircraft consists exclusively of Russian and Soviet-made aircraft. Many of the machines have already been upgraded and are still flying regularly. However, this does not change the fact that the fleet consists of old ships.

This feature makes travelers from Russia feel like they are in the USSR, because most Russians have never flown old Soviet aircraft, and this is a good opportunity to compare two schools of aircraft construction - Western and Soviet.