‘NOT EXACTLY AIR FORCE 1’
KIM Jong-un and his entourage have reportedly jetted into China in Cold War era planes for talks ahead of his meeting with Donald Trump.
Two ancient aircraft operated by North Korea's state-owned carrier Air Koryo were spotted in the northeastern coastal city of Dalian – and it's been speculated one of them could be “Airforce-un”.
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The nuke-mad leader has to flown to China to meet President Xi Jinping to discuss the historic talks with Trump.
This was the first international flight since assuming power. Usually Kim moves about in an armoured train.
Unsurprisingly he flew in plane operated by Air Koryo which has been dubbed as the “worst airline in the history of the world”.
Two of the carrier’s Soviet Union built jets were spotted.
One was an ancient four engine Ilyushin Il-76MD.
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The other was the SIlyushin IL-62 - the world’s largest airliner when it first went into production in 1963.
Only a handful remain because of their vintage.
Kim has been pictured aboard the plane before and this was probably the one he flew in.
But while his jet is fitted out with all the mod-cons, passengers aboard other Air Koryo planes have to put up with horrid food, torturous propaganda and defective heating.
For ages Air Koryo attracted just one star on the global Skytrax ratings.
This year it hasn't even been rated.
The airline's planes are so old they are banned from the EU amid safety concerns.
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Few foreigners have flown with Kim's creaking airline.
One of them was photographer Arthur Mebius who has an affection for the aircraft and crew. He recently released a book called
His fascinating pictures reveal retro interiors and old-school hostess and pilot uniforms.
But because of a lack of funds the planes are falling apart.
Some reportedly suffer from problems with their cooling system with condensation dripping down on passengers.
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All passengers are served the fabled Koryo burger - an unidentifiable slice of processed meat nestling between a stale bun.
The burger is always served stone cold and on a paper doily.
It also includes a slice of rubbery-looking cheese, a few wispy slices of shredded cabbage or a single lettuce leaf.
Some say the mystery sauce is red, some say it’s brown.
But most generally agree it’s too watery to be blood left over from the unknown animal that became the patty.
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In-flight entertainment usually consists of patriotic songs to the leader but since the planes are so loud passengers struggle to hear them anyway.
Inside each cockpit is a picture of the man himself.
The airline makes very infrequent international journeys, although it's website claims flights serve 23 destinations from Pyongyang, including Beijing, Shanghai and Dalian in China, Kuala Lumpur and Kuwait City.
Chinese state media confirms President Xi Jinping and North Korea President Kim Jong-un have met for an unofficial meeting in Kim Jong-un's first state visit
During his visit to the South Korea last month, Kim confessed he was “embarrassed” about his crumbling nation's services and “honestly worried” about the south’s leader coming to visit.
The dictator appeared to be down on his trains, referring to the South Korean KTX bullet train and saying he didn’t have anything like that in North Korea.
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