Travel in North Korea

London's already excellent hotel scene just got even better: The highly anticipated Mandarin Oriental London, Mayfair, one of TPG's most exciting hotel openings of 2024, is officially open.

Korean Air is launching a new business-class product — and it's debuting in just a few days.

North Korea plans to open its much-talked about Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist zone within the next 12 months. The tourist site is set for an inauguration on May 2025, state media reported on Thursday.

Qatar Airways was declared the best airline in the world at the 2024 Airline Awards in London on June 24. Qatar beat out Singapore Airlines, last year’s winner, who slipped to the number two spot this year. Emirates, ANA All Nippon Airways, and Cathay Pacific Airways completed the top five. No North American airline made the top twenty, with Delta narrowly missing out at 21. Other North American airlines that made the top 50 are Air Canada (29) and United Airlines (42). In fact, those three airlines are the only North American airlines to receive any Airline Awards. Other popular North American airlines like American, JetBlue, and Southwest failed to even be mentioned for any individual award.

This is a rare piece of good news for Boeing.

South Korea has announced the K-pop girl group NewJeans as its tourism ambassador.

Delta Air Lines is joining forces with Saudi Arabia's newest airline in a pact that gives the young Gulf carrier a major U.S. partner even before launching its first flight.

It’s been a busy time for travel startups – 17 of them announced fundraises totaling over $317 million in the past three weeks.

A second airline has changed its cabin service due to increased concerns about turbulence.

A group of Russian schoolchildren will attend a summer camp in North Korea at the end of July.

Air Serbia carried its 2 millionth passenger of 2024 on July 8, achieving this milestone 11 days earlier than in 2023, reflecting the airline’s continued growth and operational improvements.

A JetBlue passenger who says she was scalded by hot tea is suing the airline for $1.5 million, according to court documents filed last Friday.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Yuri Frolov, 25, who in 2015 and 2016 attended North Korea's Songdowon International Children's Camp, where some Russian children will be sent this summer. The following has been edited for length and clarity.

Boeing's 777X is the world's largest passenger plane in production, complete with revolutionary folding wingtips and 10% better fuel efficiency than competitors.

Flying out of Newark the other day, I got one of those perfect IG-friendly aerial shots of New York City. Lower Manhattan was in shadow, but Lady Liberty was bathed in glorious sunlight, and as cheesy as it sounds, I got misty about all that she still represents. She stood watch when my Hungarian mother arrived as an infant; last year my half-Korean daughter, whose own mother also came to America as a child, visited Ellis Island on a school trip and was so proud to find her grandmother's name among the digitized immigration records. The plane continued over the Bronx, and I imagined the rest of America splayed out in miniature, like Saul Steinberg's View of the World From 9th Avenue, and I thought about how much I love this beautiful, fractured country, in spite of everything. The Fourth of July is upon us, so let me count the ways. An incomplete list:

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Gladys Tsoi, a 29-year-old dog owner and investment banker based in Hong Kong. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider verified Tsoi's receipts.

This article is part of our airport food survival guide, which includes tips and tricks—even a hot take or two—that challenge the notion that airport meals are always dull, overpriced, and tasteless.

Nothing is more instructive than being wrong, and there’s no quicker way to be wrong than to have expectations. My arrival to Aktau, in Kazakhstan's Mangystau region, was by cargo ship, and over that 24-hour voyage, spent with long-haul truckers drinking duty-free whisky, I had plenty of time to imagine what awaited me on shore: a port city that was rough, brutalist, suspicious. At first sight, Aktau was brutalist, if only architecturally, but it was far from rough or suspicious. And while not beautiful, or even very pretty, there was something alluring about the place from the get-go.

The latest addition to New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport? An airport lounge that aims to be un-airport-like. 

First-class Delta flyers out of New York’s JFK now have a new premium perk: A lounge that’s just for them. 

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Jun 19, 2024 • 7 min read