Skytrax, som har sammensat listen over verdens bedste og dårligste i luften, har for fjerde år i træk valgt Air Koryo som det dårligste på baggrund af selskabets notorisk ringe og mangelfulde service, skriver Berlingske.
F.eks. består underholdningen om bord for det meste af den lokale Moranbong band-pigegruppe, der synger patriotiske sange om den nordkoreanske leder.
Ikke alle finder dog nordkoreanernes bundplacering retfærdig. Some claim Air Koryo has been judged too harshly, writes British daily “The Independent”.
It is fairly reliable, with a new terminal at Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport, and has new fleet of aircraft – according to Simon Cockerell, of the Koryo Group, a Beijing-based travel agency that specializes in North Korea.
The agency has no affiliation to Air Koryo, but Mr Cockerell often uses the airline. "It's a bit of a giggle, actually. They are clearly not the world's worst airline," he said.
It was founded in 1955 and has since then drastically tried to improve its image.
Pilot Patrick Smith added: "I'm not sure that I have ever seen or heard any references to Air Koryo being unsafe, only that its service is terrible.
"Some of the world's best and safest airlines are carriers the average American has never heard of."
The airline falls down on details customers have come to expect – there is no in-flight magazine and the attendants do not speak foreign languages well.
Top 10 of the Skytrax 2016 World Airline Awards
1 Emirates
2 Qatar Airways
3 Singapore Airlines
4 Cathay Pacific
5 ANA All Nippon Airways
6 Etihad Airways
7 Turkish Airlines
8 EVA Air
9 Qantas Airways
10 Lufthansa
