Amid tensions with North Korea, Air China to suspend Beijing-Pyongyang flights

China's national airline, Air China, suspended flights from Beijing to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, from late on Friday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said.

It did not say why the flights, which operate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, were being suspended.

CCTV did not give a source for its news report published on its website and Air China could not immediately be reached for comment after business hours.

The last flight between the two cities took place on Friday, with the return flight to Beijing arriving in the early evening, the broadcaster said.

Air China began regular flights between the two countries in 2008 but the flights were frequently cancelled because of unspecified problems, the broadcaster said.

China is North Korea's sole major ally but it disapproves of the North's weapons programmes, and its confrontations with the United States and its Asian allies, and it has supported UN sanctions against it.

Following repeated missile tests that drew international criticism, China banned all imports of North Korean coal on Feb. 26, cutting off the country's most important export product.