The flagship carrier of North Korea has flown its first international flight since the pandemic.

According to real-time flight tracking service Flightradar24, Air Koryo’s JS151 landed at Beijing Capital Airport at 09:16 local time (01:16 GMT) Tuesday morning.

JS151 was carrying an unknown number of passengers or who was on board.

The Pyongyang-Beijing route has been reopened for North Koreans to travel home, according to Koryo Tours.

Flightradar24 reports that flight JS151 was operated by a Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft, which can carry 210 passengers.

The number of passengers on board the return flight, JS152, which was scheduled to depart for Pyongyang at 13:05, is unknown.

Nevertheless, Kyodo News reported that Air Koryo’s Beijing airport check-in counter was packed with passengers wearing North Korean flag pins and pushing luggage trolleys.

Air Koryo flights to Beijing have been resuming after being halted for more than three and a half years due to the Covid border closures, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

International passenger travel has only recently resumed in Pyongyang.

On their way to the Taekwondo world championships in Kazakhstan, North Korean athletes crossed the border into China last week.

First foreign delegations to be invited to North Korea since 2020 were also in the North Korean capital in July to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.