China has acted as a lifeline for North Korea's moribund economy as its largest trading partner as well as an important source of diplomatic and political support.

Access to North Korea has always been heavily restricted, but the country became almost entirely cut off when it sealed its borders in 2020 during the pandemic.

Flight CA121 departed Beijing Capital Airport at 7:58 a.m. local time, according to FlightStats data, and arrived at Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport at 10:37 a.m.

The plane was a Boeing 737-700 with capacity for up to 128 passengers, according to travel website Trip.com, though only travelers with business, study or other special purposes can make the cross-border journey.

China's ambassador to North Korea Wang Yajun and other Chinese diplomats greeted the passengers at the airport, Xinhua news agency said.

Earlier, AFP journalists saw travelers at Beijing's bustling airport forming a snaking queue to check in their luggage with the airline.

Pyongyang-bound business traveler Zhao Bin showed reporters his air ticket, and expressed optimism that tourism would resume for Chinese visitors.

"I expect both railway routes and Air China flights will increase, and there will be more exchanges and travel between people," said Zhao, who will be spending around a week in North Korea.

He has visited North Korea multiple times, most recently in 2024, and said that the resumption of the flight route will offer "greater convenience to those of us who frequently travel between Beijing and Pyongyang".

Tourists

Zhao told AFP he was looking forward to eating North Korea's "incredibly rich and diverse" cuisine and hoped increased exchanges between both countries could deepen ties "to a new level".

"The relationship between the two countries is now as close as brothers," he said.

Air China did not immediately reply to AFP when asked for details on the flight, including the number of passengers traveling from Beijing to Pyongyang.

Economy class tickets had been available for around US$200 and a return flight from Pyongyang is scheduled for midday.

Daily passenger train services resumed this month with China, and AFP journalists in China's northeastern town of Dandong – long a key gateway for exchanges with North Korea – saw a mostly empty passenger train traveling into the isolated nation last week.

While China has fully reopened its borders since the pandemic, North Korea has proceeded at a much slower pace.

North Korea resumed direct flights and train services with Russia last year and state carrier Air Koryo restarted flights between Beijing and Pyongyang in 2023.

Young Pioneer Tours, which specializes in travel to North Korea, told AFP in March that Air China resuming its route to Beijing opens Pyongyang up to more accessible connections.

While the announcement of flights was "promising" for tourism, "there is still no further confirmation regarding Western tourists", Young Pioneer tour manager Rowan Beard said.

Prior to the pandemic, Chinese tourists made up the bulk of foreign visitors to North Korea, numbering roughly 350,000 in 2019 and providing a huge revenue stream for Pyongyang, according to NK News, a specialist website that provides analyses of the country.

By comparison, around 5,000 Western tourists visited North Korea each year from 2009, with US citizens accounting for 20 percent of those, according to the 38 North program at the Washington-based Stimson Center.

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