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Liu Zhen

North Korean leaders usually travel by train when going overseas, but Kim Jong-un flew to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday – which may broaden the choice of locations for his meeting with US President Donald Trump next month.
For his first China visit in March – also his first foreign trip as leader – Kim travelled on a 22-carriage armoured train moving at 60km/h, exactly as his famously aerophobic father used to.
But on Monday he flew to China’s northeast city of Dalian, which is only 360km from Pyongyang, by air.

The North Korean Air Force One – named Chammae-1, a modified Soviet-made jetliner Ilyushin Il-62M aircraft – was photographed at Dalian airport.
Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un likely to meet in Singapore for historic talks in June
This means that for the meeting with Trump, it would not be impossible for Kim to travel to more distant destinations by air, rather than to one of the few options accessible by train.
Kim’s long-haul Il-62M
The four-engine cold war legacy aircraft Il-62M has a range of about 10,000km, enabling it to make a non-stop journey from North Korea to the west coast of the United States, or to European cities such as Zurich and Stockholm.
Where Trump and Kim could meet: seven options, from Beijing to Boracay, for a dangerous liaison
It is more than capable of the 5,000km trip from Pyongyang to Singapore, if a summit between the US and North Korea were to take place there, as has been suggested.

The long-range narrow-body jet Il-62 was introduced in the 1960s and the variant Il-62M was developed in the 1970s until production stopped in 1995. Air Koryo, North Korea’s flag carrier and only airline, now operates four of them, including a converted VIP aircraft for its head of state.
Kim Jong-un confirmed as Xi Jinping’s ‘mystery guest’ in surprise northern China summit
Kim’s younger sister Kim Yo-jong, who was also among the delegation to Dalian, had taken the Chammae-1 to Pyeongchang in South Korea as the special envoy of North Korea for the Winter Olympics in February.
In 1983, an Air Koryo Il-62M crashed in Guinea, where it was bound from Pyongyang, after making two refuelling stops on the way. All 23 people on board were killed in what was the airline’s first fatal accident.
The personalised An-148
As well as Chammae-1, Kim has another private jet, a Ukraine-made Antonov An-148, which had its first test flight in 2004 and began mass production in 2009.

Air Koryo bought a couple of these in 2013 and used them for commercial trips in China, but this smaller, newer aircraft soon became a chartered option for the leader – although it has a shorter range, of about 3,500km.
Questions mount over North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s ability to fly abroad as he steps onto world stage
Kim has been shown by official North Korean media boarding or stepping out of the newly purchased An-148 and was photographed taking the plane – with an interior refurbished for his private use – for a spin over Pyongyang to celebrate his late father’s birthday in February 2015.

Korean Central News Agency images showed Kim sitting behind a large wooden desk with a lamp and an ashtray, and occasionally staring out over the capital from his opulent white leather executive chair.
North Korea builds private runways so plane-loving Kim can land next to his palaces
Satellite images have shown Kim built several new runways long enough to land this aircraft next to some of his family palaces across the country in the first few years of his reign, in a further sign of his interest in taking to the sky.
He has even piloted what may have been this plane himself – with the help of pilot. In an official documentary released in 2014, he was shown sitting in the cockpit, going through the manual checklist, taking off, flying and landing.


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North Korea

Kim Jong-un’s private jets, and where he could fly them to meet Donald Trump

Kim Jong-un has been shown by state media at the controls of what may be his An-148. Photo: Handout

Chammae-1 at Sunan Airport, North Korea. Photo: Handout

This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken on March 27, 2018 and released on March 28, 2018 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) waving from his train as it prepares to depart from Beijing railway station. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was treated to a lavish welcome by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a secretive trip to Beijing as both sides seek to repair frayed ties ahead of landmark summits with Seoul and Washington. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / - / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. /

An Air Koryo AN-148. Photo: Handout

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un gives field guidance to the construction of the Mirae Scientists Street at his plane, in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on February 15, 2015. His father was afraid to fly, but North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has taken to the skies, building a series of small runways long enough to land light, private aircraft next to some of his palaces, satellite imagery shows. Construction on Kim's personal landing strips began in 2014 and some were completed as recently as last month, according to satellite imagery identified by Curtis Melvin of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins University in Washington. REUTERS/KCNA/Files ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS PICTURE IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS R

News

China

Diplomacy

Having broken with his usual preference for rail travel by flying to China, the leader may be ready to hold a summit with the US farther afield – and he has aircraft at his disposal


Kim Jong-un

Donald Trump