Air China’s Beijing-Pyongyang route will remain suspended until at least early May, the company confirmed to NK News on Friday, after first shutting down in late January due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).

The next scheduled flight is set for May 4, according to the Air China website and confirmed by a phone operator on Friday.

A representative in the company’s Pyongyang office also confirmed to NK News that the flights (number CA121/CA122) were “canceled” through the end of April.

But given that Air China has announced the cancellation of flights on the route gradually since first shutting down, it is still possible that the restart date could stretch beyond early May.

The fate of the route also appears to ultimately depend on the status of North Korea’s travel restrictions, after a DPRK health official said in February that foreigners would remain barred from entry at airports “until ways to diagnose and cure [the disease] are completely established.” 

The latest information provided by Air China indicates their expanded Monday/Wednesday/Friday spring schedule — which has in past years resumed in early April for major North Korean holidays and events — will resume on Monday, May 4.

Air China had since late October been operating on a reduced winter schedule of two Beijing-Pyongyang flights per week, on Mondays and Fridays. 

The last flight before the route was put on hold was on January 20, according to the NK Pro Aviation Tracker, just as North Korea’s ban on tourism kicked in and the country’s authorities began ramping up their COVID-19-related restrictions. 

Airlineroute reported earlier this month that Air China, after first announcing cancellations through February 10, then extended the policy through March 2, March 28, and finally April 16.

Pyongyang is Air China’s only destination in North Korea, and the company is the only foreign airliner that has regularly operated in the DPRK in recent years.

As for North Korea’s own flag carrier Air Koryo, all flights have been completely suspended since the last regular operation of the Pyongyang-Beijing route on February 1.

Only one special flight to Vladivostok, negotiated at length with North Korean authorities, was conducted after delays on March 9 for foreigners residing in the country to escape extended quarantine and other restrictions.

There are still no indications that flights to Vladivostok, Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, and the newest destination of Macau will resume regular operations in April, despite the month typically being the start of the spring tourist season.

Celebrations are expected in Pyongyang for the April 15 birthday of founding leader Kim Il Sung, but their scope is still unknown, and an international marathon scheduled for April 12 was already cancelled. 

The next major event which would necessarily see an influx of foreign visitors would be the Pyongyang Spring International Trade Fair set for May 25-29, though the status of this event is also in doubt.

Edited by Oliver Hotham