A pilgrimage to the Dear Leader’s birthplace…
Carrier: Air Koryo (Chosonminhang)
Route: FNJ-Samjiyon (I’m not being lazy, it has no code!)
Flight: JS254 OR JS5502 (Who Knows, it was a ‘One-Ticket-For-All’ affair!)
Equipment: Tu-154B2 (Built 1983)
Registration: P-561
Seat Number: 5A (Given) Switched to 4F (Business)
Flight Duration: 1h 30m
Load: 40%
Hello fellow A.Nutters and welcome to my first (of hopefully many) Trip Reports!
I thought I’d start off with a trip that I took recently, which I imagine not many have had the privilege to take before…
Seeing as this was the third internal flight in the DPRK, we had already experiences a little of what was to come…
OK, so it might be like going back to 1975; with the stewardesses in their strangely attractive dress, the dated planes and the bottled drinks that look as though they're outta the ark... but hey, this IS Air Koryo isn't it!?
Before boarding at any airport in the DPRK, there is the chance to sample the Dear/Great Leaders works, buy some charmingly Anti-American propaganda and gorge yourself on the delights a country with little or no imports can offer… Although an offer of three year old crisps and Vodka ‘Imported from the USSR’ sounded palatable, I was rather more interested in seeing which plane had been lined up for us. Out on the vast apron stood the 27 year old 154 that would be our transport for today.
I was a little annoyed as an IL-18 stood so close to the gate, but I’d never flown a ‘b’ model before so I wasn’t too disappointed. Not that it really mattered, as we got to fly on that, later on in the journey – Huzzah!
Security in North Korea isn’t quite up to the standards of other countries... You quite simply walk through the highly dangerous looking metal detectors (that aren’t switched on) with everything still on your person, to the one door that leads to the tarmac... They don't seem to mind if you have a Swiss army knife on your person or if you’re carrying lighters etc… No-one on our group even got patted down.
Then there's the incredibly pointless bus to the plane which takes all of three seconds…
The elaborate chandeliers at the airport that were never on even at night, due to power shortages.
A busy day at FNJ, with at least 3 planes passing through!
Our plane sitting on the tarmac
The Koryo Lineup: IL-18, Tu-154, 2 x IL-62 and what would appear to be the 2 x Tu-204's
Guarding the entrance... (Not that there's flights anytime soon)
Collection of old MI-172's and P-551 stored for parts presumably... (Bad landing I think?)
When we boarded our veteran Tupolev, greeted by the ever-so-friendly cabin crew, we were escorted to our seats in whY class… placed in the first teeny cabin I was pretty happy as the rest of the North Korean gymnastics team seemed to be up back!
A few minutes later, after everyone had boarded (including the gymnastic team supplied with a few essential travel supplies consisting of Gerry cans and Cooking Oil), our guide suggested we should move up to the front for the proper Koryo experience.. Yay!. The five or so of us moved up to our exceedingly comfortable Business Class seats - to the confusion the stewards, and after a few minutes of irate conversation they were told that ‘we had chartered the plane so we were sitting where we damn well liked!’
Good old Mr Ó, our North Korean guide had never flown before, so he was a little on edge about it all
Ahhh, charters in North Korea, there's always some other motley crew of misfits that manage to wangle a free flight!
Mind-you by the state of the roads in the area I'm fairly sure that flying is a safer option (even IF half the passengers are indeed carrying enough fuel with them to firebomb half the capital!)
After absorbing the obligatory reading material and everything you could possibly want to know about the ‘Dear Leader’, you get the choice of drinks from the trolley (like your grandmother has, without a brake - which is amusing in turbulence) there is a choice of Beer, Sparkling Substance No.1 or Water, all from the last five year plan. After this, the third engine was turned off (as they always do) and a few minutes later the opportunity to enjoy the truly bizarre ‘Koryo Burger’ that was probably barking ten minutes before the plane took off…
However, I would recommend not indulging in one of these culinary delights unless you happen to carry Charcoal Tablets on your person.
So far, so good as far as service is concerned, with the charming attendants running up and down to attend to our every whim and forcing endless bottles of Beer upon us – but I can live with that.
Business Class is particularly good for a game of football, as the stewards don't seem to mind... There’s plenty of room and our tour guide was in his element having a game with us all!
The amusing thing about Air Koryo is that it’s all a big chance to show off on an international flight, but internally, you really get to see how differing the DPRK’s attempts at safety procedures are.
For one, Seatbelt Checks: Normally attendants will stroll along the plane to check the passenger’s seatbelts - and this is no different on Koryo, apart from the fact that they don't mind if it’s fastened or not. I really can see how they were banned in Europe… I’ve never been on this model of the Tu-154 before, but I don't remember there being visible gaps in the floor where one could see (presumably the cargo hold) on the newer models? Then there's the safety cards (or lack of) which seem to vary between aircraft types and revisions.
For example, on this particular flight I managed to locate two versions for the Tupolev and one for the Ilyushin 62, which may prove confusing if there were to be an incident… does the Tupolev even have Oxygen on this model?!
I think the biggest benefit of flying internally is that you don't have to listen to that earbleedingly loud propaganda music!
Let’s be honest, you can't expect a First Class trip... But it's all part of the North Korean experience!
Hope you enjoyed the report,
Tom
Here are a few more shots I took during my trip, cause I know you chaps like a load of photo's!:
Myself at Samjiyon...
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The amusing customs declaration - Why would I want to bring Poison!?
I took another 3 Flights as well as this in/out of the DPRK, so I shall put them up depending on demand
These would be PEK-FNJ, FNJ-Sondok (Hamhung) and finally the return from Hamhung, which would admittedly lack in photo’s, but could be of interest because of the IL-18 involved!
There are more photo’s up on my Flickr account if anyone wishes to have a look (.com/tpeddle)
[Edited 2010-09-11 10:43:03]
[Edited 2010-09-11 10:44:14]
The pictures are excellent too. Thanks for sharing.
You act like this didn't phase you! In any other country the plane lands immediately if an engine isn't running.