North Korea's Air Koryo makes maiden landing at KLIA

SEPANG: North Korea national airline Air Koryo made its maiden landing at KL International Airport (KLIA) on Monday and will start a twice-weekly service to Kuala Lumpur from Pyongyang on April 18.

The airline will fly on Mondays and Thursdays, using a 142-seat TU-204 Next Generation Tupolev aircraft.

With Air Koryo, there are now a total of 58 airlines operating at KLIA to 58. Also, it becomes the first airline to introduce direct schedule flights to Pyongyang from Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) managing director Tan Sri Bashir Ahmad said Air Koryo had been operating charter flights to KLIA for the last few years and now it had gained sufficient market strength to start schedule operations.

“MAHB is actively collaborating with the Government to ensure that we maximise the effectiveness of our marketing investment to attract new airlines and establish new routes,” he said in a statement.

Air Koryo’s networks cover Beijing and Shenyang in China, Vladivostok and Moscow (Russia), Bangkok (Thailand) and now Kuala Lumpur.