(Reuters) -Russia will launch direct passenger flights from Moscow to North Korea’s capital Pyongyang on Sunday, Russian authorities said, as the two former communist bloc allies move to improve ties following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The start of regular flights between the capitals for the first time since the mid-1990s, according to Russian aviation blogs, follows the resumption of Moscow-Pyongyang passenger rail service, a 10-day journey, in June.
The first flight will leave Sheremetyevo airport at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT), according to the airport’s timetable.
The eight-hour flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER with a capacity of 440 passengers, Russia’s RIA state news agency said on Sunday. It said tickets started at 44,700 roubles ($563), and the first flight quickly sold out.
Russia’s civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia has granted Nordwind Airlines permission to operate flights between Moscow and Pyongyang twice a week. The transport ministry said in a statement that for now flights would operate once a month, “to help build stable demand”.
The only direct air route between Russia and North Korea has been flights by North Korean carrier Air Koryo to Vladivostok in Russia’s Far East three times a week.
Ukraine and its Western allies have accused North Korea of supplying Russia with artillery and ballistic missiles. Moscow and Pyongyang deny the allegations.
Pyongyang has deployed more than 10,000 troops and arms to Russia to back Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said this month his country was ready to “unconditionally support” Moscow’s efforts to resolve the conflict in Ukraine.
($1 = 79.4000 roubles)
(Reporting by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by William Mallard)
