Departure
96%
vs 95% ▲ 1
MY FS FLIGHTS
MY FS FLIGHTS
Pyongyang Sunan International Airport (ZKPY/FNJ) is North Korea's sole international gateway, sited in the Sunan District a little north of the capital and home to the state carrier Air Koryo. Its two long, ILS-equipped concrete runways and tightly controlled airspace make it a striking, if rarely flown, destination for the simulator pilot exploring one of the world's most closed aviation environments.
Pyongyang Sunan International Airport is the principal and only international airport serving Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea, and is operated by the Civil Aviation Administration of Korea. It serves as the home base and hub for the national carrier Air Koryo and is the country's main point of contact with the outside world by air, making it a notable and unusual destination for a virtual pilot given North Korea's otherwise closed airspace.
The airfield lies in Ryongbung-ri, Sunan District, to the north of Pyongyang's urban area, roughly 25 kilometres from the city centre. It sits close to the Pyongyang-Hicheon Expressway, and Sunan Station on the Pyongui Line of the Korean State Railway lies only a short distance from the terminal buildings, giving a useful ground reference for orientation on approach.
The airfield has two physical runways. The longer, 01/19, is 12,600-12,601 feet in length, hard-surfaced, lit and equipped with ILS on both thresholds. The second, 17/35, measures 11,452-11,539 feet, is also hard-surfaced, lit and served by ILS at both ends, making both directions suitable for large intercontinental aircraft as well as lighter traffic.
Published frequencies for the field are Approach on 130 MHz, Ground on 121.8 MHz and Tower on 118.3 MHz. Instrument approaches are available, with ILS fitted to all four runway ends of the two physical runways, supporting precision approaches in the low-visibility conditions that can affect the Pyongyang basin.
The Taedong River and the built-up mass of central Pyongyang lie to the south, while the Pyongyang-Hicheon Expressway and Sunan Station provide clear linear features close to the airfield boundary for visual orientation when approaching from the south or east.
The airfield has its roots in the immediate post-war period, when Sunan Airfield was built to replace earlier Japanese-era airfields at Pyongyang Air Base and Mirim, the latter surviving as a military field east of the Taedong River. During the Korean War the airport was held by United Nations forces for seven weeks in late 1950, used to fly in large quantities of supplies, before being flooded in May 1953 when the United States Air Force bombed the Toksan Dam; repair and expansion began after the armistice two months later. Soviet-era Aeroflot services to Moscow and Khabarovsk operated in the 1980s, and Air Koryo ran nonstop Moscow flights continuing to Berlin, Prague and Sofia in the 1990s. A temporary terminal was built for the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students, and in the 2000s the field saw charter services from Russian and Chinese carriers alongside periodic Air China links to Beijing. Kim Jong Un ordered a new terminal, control tower and VIP facility built from 2012 as part of an accelerated construction drive, replacing the older terminal that was demolished in 2012.
The airport remains the hub for Air Koryo and the country's only channel for scheduled international air services. It was closed to international travel in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic and reopened in 2023 with the resumption of Air Koryo flights to Beijing and Vladivostok; in July 2025 Nordwind Airlines began scheduled service to Moscow-Sheremetyevo. A maintenance facility with aircraft hangars was reported built near runway 17/35 in 2016, and the field is understood to be heavily secured given its status as North Korea's principal gateway airport.