North Korea is reportedly operating chartered planes to transport foreign visitors for the Arirang Festival underway in the communist state.

The North’s state-run Korean Central TV said Thursday that a group of Russian tourists had arrived in Pyongyang for the festival aboard a chartered North Korean plane.

The broadcaster added that the number of foreigners visiting the nation for the festival is rising by the day.

The Russian tourists will stay in Pyongyang and Gaesong until Monday and also visit the truce village of Panmunjeom.

Earlier on Wednesday, a group of visitors from China, Britain, Mongolia and Guinea arrived in the North to watch the event, a synchronized gymnastics and dance spectacle involving more than 100-thousand performers.

North Korea first held the festival in 2002 to mark the 60th birthday of its leader Kim Jong-il and the 90th birthday of his father and the North's founder, Kim Il-sung. This year's festival is scheduled to run until October 10.