South Korea is trying to block Pyongyang's attempts to end years of isolation by widening commercial aviation links, unless North Korea agrees to extend its offer of opening its airways to all carriers and sign a joint air traffic control accord for the peninsula.
The latest manoeuvring by South Korea came when an official of the Ministry of National Unification claimed that North Korea's flag carrier Air Koryo had submitted an application to Iata in June and could become a member as early as September. Susan Ross, Iata's membership liaison officer, says she has received no application but confirms that she responded to a request from Air Koryo for membership details earlier this year.
The misinformation disseminated by Seoul appears to be part of a wider attempt to influence the development of North Korea's air links with the outside world. It is understood that Pyongyang is trying to barter overfly rights for US and Japanese carriers in exchange for aid to modernise its archaic aviation infrastructure. The heightened tension on the Korean peninsula over the past six months means South Korea is unlikely to receive a similar offer.
International carriers have long coveted North Korean overfly rights, as they would cut the distance of current routings, particularly on services from the US and Japan to South Korea and some destinations in China.
But South Korea insists that a North-South air traffic control agreement is needed first before carriers can overfly North Korean airspace to reach Seoul, and that it must open its own airspace to all carriers irrespective of nationality.
T Ballantyne/M Odell
Source: Airline Business
