Russia and North Korea boost ties with new Nordwind flights from Moscow to Pyongyang
July 21, 2025
In another sign of warming relations between Pyongyang and Moscow, Nordwind Airlines is set to operate direct flights between North Korea and Russia. Flights are set to commence in July and will target Russian holidaymakers.
Russia’s Nordwind to operate flights to Pyongyang
The Moscow Times reported Russia’s civil aviation authority, Rosaviatsia, has issued a licence for Nordwind to operate flights between the two capitals twice a week. Nordwind had applied for the license in June.
The publication stated that Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport has already added flights to Pyongyang to its schedule starting on 27th July.
Russia’s state-run news agency, Tass, reported the tickets will start at 44,600 rubles (around $567). Tass also stated the flight will take around eight hours and will be operated by a Boeing 777-200ER widebody aircraft.
This is not the only flight connecting Russia with North Korea. The North Korean airline, Air Koryo, already operates twice-weekly flights between Pyongyang and Russia’s Far East city of Vladivostok. That flight was suspended during the pandemic but resumed in August 2023.
🏖️North Korea builds a resort for Russian tourists
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) June 26, 2025
Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter, has opened the massive Wonsan-Kalma resort on North Korea’s eastern coast.
The resort is primarily targeting Russian tourists, who are being actively encouraged to visit. Direct trains… https://t.co/lQXwOSXTif pic.twitter.com/V8icRo5L1Z
This comes after the first train from Pyongyang to Moscow was launched in June. The complete trip from one capital to the other will take nine days and traverse over 10,000 km, or around 6,000 miles. The train is also planned to take tourists and will run twice a month.
Nordwind Airlines taking Russian tourists to North Korea
Nordwind Airlines is an airline based in Moscow’s Sheremetyevo International Airport and is a leisure airline focused on holiday routes.
North Korea recently released a seaside resort complex reportedly tailored to Russian tourists. The X (formerly Twitter) account Nexta reported, “Kim Jong Un, accompanied by his daughter, has opened the massive Wonsan-Kalma resort on North Korea’s eastern coast.” It added that around 1,500 Russians visited North Korea in 2024.
The increased connection comes as Russia has made high-profile visits to North Korea, with Russian President Vladimir Putin visiting in 2024. The two countries signed a mutual defense pact during his visit.
The South Korean Yonhap News Agency reports North Korea has supplied large quantities of weapons to Russia to support its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, including ballistic missiles, millions of artillery shells, and thousands of troops.
Friendship among mutually sanctioned countries
Both Russia and North Korea are under Western sanctions that have effectively cut them off from purchasing new aircraft.
Russia is trying to restart domestic production of its own aircraft, although this is easier said than done, and Russia has not yet been able to put its Yakolev MC-21 commercial jet into production. Russia is also relying on the black market to keep its fleet of Airbus and Boeing aircraft flying.
According to Reuters, after sanctions were imposed on Russia, Nordwind lost some of the foreign-leased aircraft it operated as they were seized abroad.
According to Planespotters.net, Nordwind now operates a fleet of 27 aircraft made up of seven Airbus A321s, five twin-aisle A330s, 11 narrowbody Boeing 737s, and four Boeing 777s. The Triple Seven fleet includes two Boeing 777-200s and two Boeing 777-200ERs (Extended Range).
For its part, North Korea has long been cut off from purchasing Western aircraft. North Korea’s Air Koryo fleet is currently made up of two Antonov An-148/An-158 aircraft and two Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft for a total of just four passenger aircraft.
