A look inside Air Koryo, the state-owned national airline of North Korea

Arthur Mebius is a Dutch photographer and aviation enthusiast from Amsterdam. His photo series, Dear Sky, is a look inside Air Koryo, the state-owned national airline of North Korea. The airline boasts a fleet of 19 vintage aircraft, including Cold War models by Soviet manufacturers Antonov, Ilyushin, and Tupolev, many of which date back to the 1960s. Because of sanctions and environmental restrictions, Air Koryo’s only remaining international flights are its China and Vladivostok routes.

Arthur Mebius 是来自荷兰阿姆斯特丹的摄影师和航空爱好者。他的摄影作品系列《Dear Sky》（《亲爱的天空》）用镜头记录了朝鲜国有航空公司高丽航空（Air Koryo）。这家航空公司拥有 19 架老式飞机，其中包括苏联制造商安东诺夫（Antonov）、伊留申（Ilyushin）和图波列夫(Tupolev)冷战时期的机型，还有许多 20 世纪 60 年代的飞机。由于航空制裁和环境限制，高丽航空现在唯一的国际航班是往返中国和符拉迪沃斯托克的航线。

After learning of Air Koryo in 2015, Mebius journeyed from Amsterdam to Beijing to board a flight to Pyongyang and experience the airline for himself. Since then he’s taken a total of 24 flights on different types of aircraft. With his Fuji X100T he documented the planes, passengers, and crew he encountered in his travels.

Below you can view more of Mebius’s images and read a short excerpt from his book.

在 2015 年知道高丽航空后，Mebius 特意从阿姆斯特丹飞到北京，坐上了一趟飞往平壤的航班，亲身体验了这家航空公司。从那以后，他一共乘坐过 24 架不同型号的飞机。透过他的富士 X100T 相机，他用镜头记录了在旅行中遇到的飞机、乘客和机组人员。

下面即是由 Mebius 所拍摄的照片及他书中的片段节选。

“Sunan Airport City, September 14, 2016 ––

In one of the apartment buildings in Sunan, next to Pyongyang airport, the haze of 7.27 cigarette smoke is lit by flashing colored lights pinned to the wall and a Moranbong Band CD pumps from a stereo in the corner. Two flight attendants sit demurely on a sofa, an animated card game is in progress at the table. The flight engineer from the Tu-154 is already asleep in a chair. Animated conversation forms a steady roar as tales of the week are cut with memories of a Belgrade nightstop and a zero-zero landing in the depth of a Moscow winter.

The team effort of these comrades, patriots all, is the visible peak of a mountain of institutional knowledge as big as Mount Paektu made of Juche-orientated aviating, and whatever the obstacle, decade or politics, the mission is accomplished.”

“平壤顺安国际机场，2016 年 9 月 14 日——

在位于平壤顺安国际机场旁边的一栋公寓大楼中, 7.27 牌香烟的烟雾中，透着墙上彩色灯的灯光，角落的音响播放着朝鲜女子乐队牡丹峰乐团（Moranbong Band）的CD。两位空姐端坐在沙发上，兴高采烈地玩着扑克牌。Tu-154 客机的飞行工程师已经在椅子上睡着了。他们热烈地谈论着本周的八卦，以及在贝尔格莱德停飞过夜，在莫斯科的寒冬能见度为零时，客机盲降的回忆。

这些同志、爱国者们的团队努力，体现着体制教育的顶峰，犹如白头山（位于中朝边境的一座“圣山”）一样雄伟；而以“主体思想”（Juche，意为自立，是朝鲜劳动党的思想体系和理论基础，由金日成创立，因而也称为“金日成主义”）为导向的飞行，无论遇到什么障碍，历经多少个十年，或说政治形势如何，这个任务都已经完成了。”