A Russian airline carried out its first flight on a new route connecting Moscow and the North Korean capital on Monday, marking the first direct commercial flight between the two cities in decades.

Nordwind Airlines – which used to carry Russians to holiday destinations in Europe before the EU imposed a ban on Russian flights – had tickets priced at 45,000 rubles (US$570) for the route. Russia previously announced the Moscow-Pyongyang route would be serviced once per month.

Russia's Natural Resources Minister Alexander Kozlov arrives at Pyongyang International Airport on July 28, 2025, in this photo published by the Korean Central News Agency on July 29, 2025. (For Use Only in the Republic of Korea. No Redistribution) (Yonhap)