Air China to resume flights to Pyongyang after three-week suspension

(SCMP) Air China, the only Chinese carrier with regular services to North Korea, will resume the flights between Beijing and Pyongyang on May 5 after a three-week suspension, state media reported on Tuesday. The flagship carrier will have two direct flights from Beijing to Pyongyang every week, departing on Monday and Friday, China Central Television reported. Flights connecting the two cities have been suspended since April 14 amid fears that conditions facing the Korean Peninsula has become more volatile because of Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic tests. But an Air China spokesman said at that time that the suspension was mainly on ticket sales and was only temporary. Air China started regular flights from Beijing to Pyongyang in 2008. North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the founding of its military in a show of force amid growing concern over the North's nuclear and missile programmes. Fears had risen in recent weeks that North Korea would conduct another nuclear test or long-range missile launch in defiance of UN sanctions. But instead of a nuclear test or missile launch, Pyongyang deployed a large number of long-range artillery units in the Wonsan region on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea's military said. North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there. China – North Korea's sole major ally, which nevertheless objects to its weapons development – has repeatedly called for calm. China's envoy for Korean affairs, Wu Dawei, was in Tokyo on Tuesday. "We hope that all parties, including Japan, can work with China to promote an early peaceful resolution of the issue, and play the role, put forth the effort, and assume the responsibility that they should," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told reporters in Beijing. Source: South China Morning Post  from China Travel & Tourism News http://ift.tt/1iB6EFm