Summary
- North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a private Ilyushin II-62M jet, nicknamed “Chammae-1,” which he typically uses for international travel.
- The Ilyushin II-62M is an old aircraft, with some models in Air Koryo’s fleet being over 44 years old. It is not considered to have modern electronics or adequate security measures.
- Kim Jong Un prefers to travel by armored train when meeting world leaders abroad, following the family tradition set by his grandfather. While luxurious, the train is slow and requires changing its wheels at the Russian border.
Since his recent visit to Russia, everyone knows about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s special train. But did you know he also has a private jet at his disposal? For his trip to meet President Putin, he left his Soviet-built Ilyushin II-62M at home and made the 733-mile journey by train. The Ilyushin is nicknamed “Chammae-1” after the goshawk, the country’s national bird.
The Ilyushin II-62M
In 1960, the Soviet Opytno Konstruktorskoye Byuro (Experiment and Design Bureau) was handed a design for a long-range jet airliner by the Ilyushin Design Bureau. The plan was for the aircraft to replace the Tupolev Tu-114 turboprop-powered long-range airliner. Because the Tupolev Tu-114 was just entering service while the Ilyushin airliner was still on the drawing board, Ilyushin had plenty of time to perfect its design.
To reduce engine noise in the cabin, Ilyushin placed the aircraft’s four Soloviev D-30KU turbofan engines in twinned/paired nacelles by the sides of and beneath the plane’s T-shaped tail. This is similar to how British aircraft manufacturer Vickers designed its VC-10. Initially, the aircraft engines were vastly underpowered, prompting Ilyushin to change them.
Photo: Shutterstock.
The Il-62 entered service with Soviet national flag carrier Aeroflot on 15 September 1967 with an inaugural passenger flight from Moscow to Montreal. The plane became Aeroflot’s aircraft of choice for long-haul flights and was also selected by Polish and Romanian flag carriers LOT Polish Airlines and Tarom.
In total, 30 countries operated the Il-62, including North Korea’s Air Koryo, which still has three Il-62Ms in its fleet of 15 aircraft. To give you an idea as to the condition of the Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-62s, P-882 is 35.7 years old, and P-881 is 37.7 years old. The aircraft the North Korean dictator has used in the past is P-885, which was delivered new in June 1979 and is now over 44 years old.
The supreme leader’s jet
Kim Jong Un used his private Ilyushin II-62M to fly to Dalian to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in May 2018. The aircraft is painted white with North Korea written in Korean on both sides of the fuselage. Adding some color to the plane is the T-tail, adorned with the national flag of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Called the “Ramhongsaek Konghwagukgi” in Korean, it comprises a central red panel with a narrow white stripe and a more prominent blue stripe above and below. In the center is a five-pointed red star on a white circle background.
According to Air Charter, Kim Jong-un’s aircraft is a VIP configuration similar in scale to the United States’ Air Force One. Photos released by the state-run Korean Central News Agency show a plush interior, decorated with oversized white leather chairs, shiny rosewood tables and a crystal ashtray. The last time the plane was seen in service was when his younger sister Yo-jong used the aircraft to fly to the South Korean Winer Olympics in Pyeongchang.
The possible reason why Kim Jong-un did not use his Il-62M to fly to Russia could be because of worries about the plane’s mechanics and its lack of modern electronics. When speaking to the news agency Reuters about the trip to Russia, a former North Korean diplomat, Ko Young Hwan, who defected to South Korea, said the plane was not up to the job.
“His plane is old, hasn’t been properly maintained, and if there’s an accident, it would be all over in the air, so there would be no time to recover, so from a security and equipment perspective, I think it’s inadequate.”
Unlike his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, who was afraid of flying, Kim Jong-un does not but likes to keep up the family tradition of traveling by armored train when meeting world leaders abroad. The train has every luxury you can imagine, containing dozens of carriages, including a restaurant car serving gourmet foods and French wines.
The downside to the train is that it is cumbersome and can only travel at 31 mph due to North Korea’s aging rail network. Also, once it reaches the Russian border, it will need to change all its wheels to travel on Russian gauge tracks.
Sources: Reuters, Air Charter, ch-aviation