Korea's national airline starts a new flight service to Dandong China

Korea's national airline has started a new flight service to Dandong in China, bringing the total of its regularly scheduled international destinations to five.

The first Air Koryo flight for the new service, a 73-seat Antonov AN148 carrying a group of around 50 Chinese tourists, touched down at Pyongyang's Sunan Airport on Tuesday.

The flight time between Dandong, right on China's border with North Korea, and Pyongyang is less than an hour. The flights are currently scheduled to operate twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Air Koryo's other current regularly scheduled international flights are to Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, and Vladivostok. The Korean flag carrier also used to make occasional flights to other destinations.