Air Koryo, North Korea’s state airliner, is operating new charter flights from Zhengzhou in China to Pyongyang for tourism purposes, a Chinese tour company confirmed to NK News Tuesday.

The first flights from Zhengzhou departed on September 25 and there are a further four to five chartered flights planned per month starting in October, according to the Henan Province branch of the China International Travel Service (CITS). The Henan Province branch had to obtain a special certificate in order to run the chartered flights to Pyongyang.

An individual from the CITS also told NK News that they advise their clients to