March 29, 2024
News

North Korean jet takes trip to nowhere in first DPRK flight broadcast in a year

Aviation expert says Air Koryo plane’s loop over east coast could be test flight following significant repairs

A North Korean passenger jet made an unusual round-trip flight to the country’s east coast on Thursday, flight tracking data shows, marking the first publicly broadcasted flight within the DPRK in nearly a year.

 The Air Koryo Tupolev-204 likely took off from near Pyongyang around 10 a.m. KST toward the east coast city of Hamhung, according to automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) data from FlightRadar24. It then briefly disappeared from tracking data, only to reappear minutes later on a heading back toward Pyongyang.

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