New Italian, American aircrafts in the Air Koryo fleet of DPRK

“In spite of the sanctions”, we could title this article.

North Korea’s national airline, Air Koryo, is now in possession two light aircraft made in the U.S. and Italy, photos from the country show.

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The two newest additions to the fleet are the U.S. manufactured Piper PA-46 Matrix and an Italian made Alpi Pioneer Suite 400 and both planes will likely be used in the country’s tourist industry.

A post from DPRK tourism agency Young Pioneer Tours includes photos of the two aircraft and says visitors to North Korea can use them for sightseeing flights around Pyongyang costing around 1000 euros.

While the Piper aircraft seems to be an older model, and the large number of planes in circulation make the sales route difficult to trace,  NK News shows that the italian “Alpi” appears to be brand new, indicating the transfer could brush against EU sanctions regulations.

UNDER THE RADAR

Nearly all exports from the U.S. to North Korea require a license, making the direct sale of any aircraft from the United States unlikely. The Florida based company has no resellers in China or Russia, two of North Korea’s neighbors through which sanctioned goods can flow, but with over 80,000 aircraft in service around the world and a busy used market, the Piper aircraft probably followed an indirect route to Pyongyang.

“Piper is unable to determine from the photograph the age of the aircraft depicted in the photo (although it does appear to be an older model) and would have no way of knowing if/how the aircraft might have ended up in North Korea,” Kevin Keegan, General Counsel and Secretary at Piper, told NK News. “We can assure you, however, that Piper is fully aware of the U.S. regulations concerning the international sale of its products and the prohibitions concerning North Korea.”

The american "Piper"
The american “Piper”

On the used market the five seater airplane varies in cost depending on the exact model and extras. Industry site Controller.com has second hand PA-46’s selling for between $500,000 and $1 million.

The Alpi Pioneer’s journey to North Korea however could put the company at risk of breaking European law. The small company working out of Perdorone in Italy’s north-east only manufactures a very limited number of planes each year. Alpi indicated to NK News that only around 27 or 28 Pioneer 400’s are in use globally.

NK News contacted Alpi Aviation about Air Koryo’s acquisition of the Pioneer 400, however they stated they have not registered any sales to the DPRK. “I confirm that Alpi has never sold directly or indirectly any of our light plane(s) to North Korea and we don’t know how this could possibly have happened,” an official quote provided by the company read. But no further detail was added.

The model, a Pioneer Suite 400, is described by Alpi as a plane with an “attractive design” that “offers the most demanding pilots features at the top in (sic) the market”.

According to manufacturing estimates posted on KitPlanes.com, a pre-assembled Pioneer 400 costs around USD$192,000, while the kit itself costs USD$140,000 and takes 400 hours to build. Alpi Aviation places price ranges between USD$50,000-200,00 depending on the selection of features and assembly options.

The italian Alpi "Pioneer Suite 400"
The italian Alpi “Pioneer Suite 400”

THE EUROPEAN UNION’S LUXURY PLANES

EU regulations published in 2007 prohibit sale, export and transfer either “directly or indirectly” of luxury goods to North Korea.

This includes, “luxury vehicles for the transport of persons on earth, air or sea, as well as their accessories and spare parts”. While the plane is not listed on the Alpi site as specifically being a luxury aircraft, it does have features that indicate that it could potential be considered as such.

Such features include, “luxury upholstery leather and fabric” as listed on Alpi Aviation’s profile of the plane.

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Antonio Razzi, Matteo Salvini, and a group of Italian businessmen on a “friendly” visit in DPRK

But the application of luxury goods sanctions to cover these specific light aircraft, like the two purchased by Air Koryo, is unclear. Even though the EU documentation includes a list of 22 categories of items, vagueness surrounding what constitutes luxury can lead to enforcement difficulties.  “The EU uses a wide definition of luxury goods in this context and it’s not clear whether these type of aircraft are what members of the Council had in mind when drafting the restrictive measures,” Lawrence Dermody, a security, sanctions and compliance researcher, told NK News. “These successful acquisitions by Air Koryo are, however, unlikely to be seen as helping current efforts to strengthen the implementation of sanctions following recent proliferation-related testing.”

United Nations resolution 2270, recently passed in 2016, also has certain provisions pertaining to Air Koryo.

This includes provisions for the inspection of cargo on all Air Koryo flights overseas and bans on the provision of aviation fuel. It also includes a ban on renting aircraft to the DPRK and its nationals.

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Resolution 2270, “Decides that Member States shall prohibit their nationals and those in their territories from leasing or chartering their flagged vessels or aircraft,” paragraph 19 reads. Section 19 does however have exemptions to this rule and the provision shall not apply if the leasing, chartering or provision of crews to the DPRK is demonstrated to be used exclusively for the livelihood purposes and not for individuals or entities to generate revenue.

FLYING IN CIRCLES

Despite the tensions with EU and U.S. regulations, the appearance of planes in the DPRK further illustrates North Korea’s ability to operate around trade restrictions, even without the original manufacturers or registered sellers’ knowledge. “High-value EU and U.S.-origin equipment typically make their way to the DPRK via intermediaries and it’s possible that in this case the manufacturers were not aware their aircraft would eventually make their way into the Air Koryo fleet,” Dermody said.

Manufacturers can limit resellers’ abilities to re-export the equipment by other parties but Dermody added that non-strategic equipment control and responsibility can be lost after export. “In these cases there are few compliance implications if exporters have undertaken adequate due diligence for their part. It’s unlikely these aircraft are being leased, thereby running foul of the latest UN measures,” Dermody said.

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If the aircraft however were being leased then they may run afoul of UN Resolution 2270 as they have been used for tourism activities, an industry that generates revenue for the North Korean government.

Air Koryo, despite having its fleet subject indirectly to resolution 2270 through the measures pertaining to cargo searches and aviation fuel, is not a sanctioned entity itself, despite non-civilian activity. “While Air Koryo provides part of the limited international passage to the DPRK, the airline is also known to share assets with the Korean People’s Army Air Force – something that may figure in future efforts to draft tighter sanctions,” Dermody told NK News.

Kim Jong Un was shown inspecting and possibly flying a light aircraft in May 2015, however the plane seen in the Korean Central Television (KCTV) footage was reported as indigenously built and is neither the Alpi nor the Piper models seen in recent images. Perhaps.

Source: NK News pro