Air China indefinitely suspends flights between Beijing and Pyongyang

TAIPEI/ BEIJING: Air China Ltd has indefinitely suspended f lights between Beijing and Pyongyang, citing poor demand as North Korea faces growing sanct ions from the United States over its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

An official in the company’s Beijing- based press office, who only gave his surname as Ding, told Reuters on Wednesday that flights were suspended because “business was not good”. He declined to comment on when f lights might resume.

The suspension by China’s national f lag carrier comes shortly after a visit by a senior Chinese envoy to the city and also coincides with a US decision to put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Air China f l i ght s to Pyongyang, which have tradit ional ly operated on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, began in 2008, but have frequently been cancelled be c ause of unsp e c i f ied problems, state media has said.

Last year, Air China halted flights seasonally for winter but resumed them in March.

So far it is not selling tickets for any 2018 f lights, according to Routes Online.

One staff member in the company’s Pyongyang office who declined to give his name told Reuters that Air China can resume the flights whenever there is enough demand and the off ice will operate normally even while there are no scheduled flights between Beijing and Pyongyang.

Air China’s Beijing- based press office declined to provide further comment.

The company cancelled some f lights in April but later said that it would increase their number in May. — Reuters

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