North Korea's national carrier Air Koryo operated a chartered flight between Pyongyang and China's east city of Jinan on May 31, marking its debut at Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport.

The inaugural flight from Pyongyang arrived at the Chinese airport at 4:40 p.m. and left for North Korea at 6:59 p.m.

Air Koryo plans to operate the Jinan-Pyongyang service every three days, using 80-seat An-148 aircraft.

North Korea is currently operating regular flights between Pyongyang and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenyang.

The North Korean national carrier last month operated chartered flights to Qingdao, Shandong Province, to transport Chinese tourists.

Chinese local media, meanwhile, said that Air Koryo will operate a regular flight between Pyongyang and Qingdao two times a week starting July 2016.