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China to limit operations of North Korea’s Air Koryo

The photo taken on May 12, 2016, shows an Air Koryo Tupolev 204 aircraft as it taxis at Sunan airport in Pyongyang, North Korea. (AFP photo)

China has decided to "limit" the operations of North Korea’s national carrier, Air Koryo, after one of its aircraft made an emergency landing in July due to a fire on board.

China will take "relevant measures to limit operations" of the airline, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said in a statement on its website on Wednesday, without providing details.

On July 22, an Air Koryo airline plane flying from Pyongyang to Beijing was forced to land in China’s northeastern city of Shenyang after it caught fire. However, no casualties were reported in the incident.

The CAAC statement cited an investigation as saying that a call button was behind the fire.

The civil aviation regulator also urged Air Koryo to improve aircraft maintenance, communication with air traffic control and training on such incidents.

China and the Russian city of Vladivostok are the only destinations of Air Koryo flights.

The carrier has recorded one fatal accident in more than 30 years despite being ranked by the global Skytrax rating website as the only airline in the "one star" category due to its low-quality standards.

The Russian Tupolev Tu-204 aircraft is used by the carrier on its flights to China. The plane carries about 140 passengers.


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