Story and picture courtesy of (UPI)

A fledgling North Korean airline route between Dandong, China, and Pyongyang was canceled because of a lack of demand and worries about safety, according to a source familiar with China-North Korea border affairs.

China may have strengthened sanctions following condemnations of North Korea at the United Nations Security Council for Pyongyang’s test of the Hwasong-12, a midrange ballistic missile.

But the primary reason for the mid-May cancellation was lack of Chinese interest in utilizing the route for North Korea travel, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Thursday.

“The aircraft were outdated and safety onboard was not guaranteed, so passengers spurned the route,” Yonhap’s source said. “Chinese businesspeople in Dandong and even North Koreans were reluctant to get on board.”

Air Koryo was operating the route with a 62-seat Antonov AN-148 aircraft, which operated twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays.

The route is being suspended less than two months after it was announced on March 28 on the Air Koryo website.

The chartered aircraft initially received Chinese authorization to fly between the two countries from November 2016 to the end of May.

But the route was delayed by more than four months, and suspended service before the end of the month, around May 16.

Air Koryo still operates other cross-border flights, between Beijing and Pyongyang, as well as between Shenyang and Pyongyang, Daily NK reported.

The flights were announced before Chinese President Xi Jinping met with U.S. President Donald Trump for their first summit at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla.

The launch of the new airline route was officially celebrated in China’s northeastern Liaoning Province with placards that read, “Celebration of the opening of Dandong-Pyongyang international air route” near Dandong Station, according to Daily NK.

After the Trump-Xi summit China may have taken measures to step up sanctions against North Korea. In April, a rare gasoline shortage was reported in Pyongyang.