Russian airline Nordwind, which received federal aviation authority approval in July 2025 to fly direct between Moscow and Pyongyang, has failed to attract tourists on the route, the Russian business daily Kommersant reports.
A source close to the airline told the paper there were “virtually no” tourists on the flights. Asked whether any seats were left empty, the source replied that some seats were occupied. He added that maintaining a direct scheduled service was still “categorically important for developing relations between the two countries,” and that the airline was also carrying “specialists in the energy sector, IT, and other fields.”
Most tourists who traveled to North Korea in 2025 flew from Vladivostok on Air Koryo, the North Korean national carrier, tour operators said.
Nordwind received 40.8 million rubles in subsidies for the direct Moscow-Pyongyang service, Kommersant reports. The Russian government had allocated three times that amount — 124.4 million rubles — from its reserve fund for the route. Under the subsidy terms, the airline was required to operate 10 one-way direct flights between July and November 2025. Kommersant counted five flights during that period.
Two sources in the aviation industry told the paper that the round-trip operating cost for Nordwind on a long-haul aircraft runs between 30 and 35 million rubles, meaning the subsidy covered roughly one flight. Even so, the sources said, the airline is expected to continue flying to Pyongyang without a subsidy extension “if there is a state necessity for it.”
Direct air service between Moscow and Pyongyang was inaugurated on July 27, 2025, with a Nordwind flight. The Transport Ministry said at the time that the carrier would fly once a month to build steady demand and fill seats.
Tickets to North Korea can only be purchased as part of a tour through Russian travel agencies accredited in the country, of which there are currently five. Border service data show that Russians made just over 5,000 trips to North Korea for tourism purposes in 2025. Nearly 4,000 of those tourists flew to Pyongyang via Vladivostok on Air Koryo with the tour operator Vostok Intur, Kommersant reports.
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