An Air Koryo airplane is seen at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai in April 2010. (Reuters via Yonhap) Evidence pointing to a possible resumption of flights between Pyongyang and Shanghai is again circulating — a development experts say could signal improving ties between North Korea and China, as well as Pyongyang’s efforts to secure foreign currency through tourism.
According to local reports Tuesday, a post circulating on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu shows a video of a user purchasing a ticket at the headquarters of North Korea’s national carrier Air Koryo in Pyongyang. The clip also included an image of the airline’s regular flight timetable.
The schedule — introduced as Air Koryo’s “regular route timetable” for the period from Oct. 26, 2025, to March 28, 2026 — shows nighttime flights scheduled on the Pyongyang-Shanghai route on Thursdays and Sundays. However, the Shanghai service had yet to appear on Air Koryo’s official website as of Tuesday.
Video circulating on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu shows an Air Koryo timetable. (Screen capture from Xiaohongshu) The last confirmed regular passenger flight on the Pyongyang-Shanghai route took place on Dec. 27, 2019, shortly before North Korea sealed its borders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Flights between Pyongyang and Beijing — a capital city requiring sustained diplomatic exchanges, unlike Shanghai, which serves more commercial and tourism-oriented purposes — resumed in August 2023.
Speculation over the possible resumption of the regular Shanghai service has surfaced from time to time in recent years, but such plans have not materialized beyond irregular operations. A few flights on the route have been recorded by flight-tracking site Flightradar24. While similar reports emerged even at that time, Air Koryo has still not been listed as an operating carrier on Shanghai airport schedules as of Tuesday.
The image shared on Xiaohongshu is the first publicly circulating material to show the airline’s name, flight schedule and destination together in a single frame.
If the Shanghai service resumes, Cheong Seong-chang, vice president of the Sejong Institute, said the move should be seen as part of a broader effort by Pyongyang to revive tourism and leverage improving ties with China to secure much-needed foreign currency.
“The resumption of regular flights to Shanghai reflects the recent improvement in North Korea-China relations, particularly after Kim Jong-un’s attendance at China’s Victory Day celebrations last year,” Cheong said. “At the same time, it also underscores North Korea’s growing need to attract foreign currency as it seeks to push ahead with domestic economic development projects.”
He added that expanding air links with China — North Korea’s largest trading partner and a key source of potential tourists — is a relatively low-cost and politically feasible way for Pyongyang to test a gradual reopening, while easing its financial constraints.
During an inspection of a large-scale tourist zone in the coastal city of Wonsan, in North Korea’s Kangwon Province, in June last year, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said the country plans to “develop major tourism and cultural districts nationwide.”
He also said a “major plan” to build large-scale, high-potential tourism complexes across the country would be finalized at an upcoming Workers’ Party congress, widely expected to take place in early 2026.
Kim Mi-yeon, a senior researcher at the KDB Future Strategy Research Institute who studies North Korea’s economy and industries, said signs suggest Pyongyang has continued to improve conditions following its limited tourism operations in 2025.
“North Korea appears to have focused on streamlining online reservation and payment systems, while also improving transportation and facility infrastructure,” Kim said.
“It is likely to move beyond short, observation-focused tours and attempt longer-stay leisure tourism, making use of hotel facilities capable of accommodating around 20,000 visitors.”
The timetable also showed the Pyongyang-Vladivostok route being increased from two to three weekly flights. In addition to Shanghai, Air Koryo operates international services between Pyongyang and Beijing three times a week, as well as flights to Shenyang.
The carrier also runs domestic scheduled routes, including flights from Pyongyang to Samjiyon in Ryanggang Province, home to Paektusan, one of the country’s most prominent tourist sites, and to Orang, a port city in North Hamgyong Province along the country’s northeastern coast.
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