If an Air Koryo passenger ignores its no-photography rule, a flight attendant might take the camera and delete the pictures herself. Crumpling up a newspaper bearing the image of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can earn travelers a stern lecture, or worse.
Those are among many quirks that may help explain why North Korea’s airline has earned a singular distinction: It’s been ranked the world’s worst airline for four straight years.
Air Koryo is the only carrier to have been awarded just one star in rankings released recently by the UK-based SkyTrax consultancy agency. More than 180 airlines are included in the five-star ranking system, which is widely considered the global benchmark of airline standards.
Some experts and frequent Air Koryo passengers disagree with the “world’s worst” title. The airline is a definitely a unique ride, but fairly reliable, they say. The SkyTrax ratings are focused on service and not safety.
“It’s a bit of a giggle, actually. They are clearly not the world’s worst airline,” said Simon Cockerell, of the Koryo Group, a Beijing-based travel agency that specializes in North Korea.
The agency has no relation to Air Koryo, though Cockerell and his tourists often fly on the airline.
Cockerell said Air Koryo’s weaknesses tend to be the kind of thing SkyTrax focuses on: cabin attendants tend not to speak foreign languages very well, there is no in-flight magazine, the meals aren’t going to win any awards and, on older planes, condensation from the cooling systems tended to dampen seats and drip on passengers.
“It’s not Emirates,” he said, referring to Dubai’s Emirates Airlines, a four-star according to SkyTrax. “It’s not quite the flying experience people are used to.”
No-frills
In-flight entertainment is usually limited to the popular Moranbong Band girl group singing patriotic odes to the leader, or North Korean cartoons, shown on drop-down screens attached to the cabin ceilings. On the less than two-hour hop from Beijing, there is a meal of sorts. It resembles a hamburger.
Its four-plane fleet of aircraft used on international flights is surprisingly new, acquired in 2008. Lax practices, like not announcing when the plane was about to land or skipping the safety demonstrations before takeoff, were fixed long ago.
The new airport terminal, a vast improvement over the temporary, warehouse-like building used until recently, provides travellers with a business-class lounge.
At the same time, being the flag-carrier of a nation shunned by much of the West cannot be good for an airline’s image. Air Koryo’s only regular international destinations are Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang in China and the Russian port of Vladivostok.