Sharjah24 – AFP: North Korea's national airline was set to make its first commercial flight in over three years on Monday, only for it to be abruptly cancelled at the last minute.
North Korea has been largely closed off from the outside world since early 2020, when it shut its borders in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Journalists gathered on Monday at Beijing's Capital International Airport to await Air Koryo flight JS151 from Pyongyang, due to arrive at 09:50 am (0150 GMT).
But almost two hours after its scheduled arrival, a signboard in the terminal unexpectedly signalled it had been cancelled, prompting groans of disappointment from media waiting to see some of the isolated North's first international travellers in years.
Beijing airport customer service told AFP that Air Koryo -- Pyongyang's beleaguered national air carrier -- had not given a reason for the cancellation.
Asked about the cancellation Monday, China's foreign ministry only said that it had approved restarting commercial flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.
"During the summer and autumn flight season... the Chinese side approved flight plans for passengers such as the Pyongyang-Beijing and Beijing-Pyongyang routes of Air Koryo," foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing.
AFP reporters who knocked on the bolted glass doors of Air Koryo's Beijing office on Monday afternoon startled a vest-clad man dozing on the sofa inside the darkened room.
A second man who opened the door responded to AFP's questions by repeatedly saying "we don't know".
He referred reporters to North Korean ruling party newspaper the Rodong Sinmun for "accurate" information, as a third man slipped inside, his shirt bearing a badge with portraits of the country's two former leaders.
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