Russia on Sunday opened a regular air link between Moscow and Pyogyang, a move reflecting increasingly close ties between the two countries.

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.

Nordwind Airlines – which used to carry Russians to holiday destinations in Europe before the EU imposed a ban on Russian flights – had tickets priced at 45,000 rubles (US$570) for the route. Russia previously announced the Moscow-Pyongyang route would be serviced once per month.