A Russian airline carried out its first flight on a new route connecting Moscow and the North Korean capital on Monday, marking the first direct commercial flight between the two cities in decades.

The inaugural flight, operated by Russia’s Nordwind Airlines on a Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, departed Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport at 7:00 p.m. on July 27. Although the Russian Federal Aviation Authority (Rosaviatsia) granted permission to operate approximately eight-hour flights between the capitals twice a week,