When will direct air services between India and China resume? IndiGo, Air India announce resumption of flights
An agreement has been reached to resume direct flights between India and China. The Ministry of External Affairs announced this in a press release on Thursday.
Shortly after, the airline IndiGo announced the resumption of direct flights between the two countries from October 26th.
Daily non-stop flights will operate from Kolkata to Guangzhou. The airline also announced that direct flights between Delhi and Guangzhou will also commence soon. IndiGo will use its Airbus A320neo aircraft for these flights.
Air India has also stated that it will resume direct India-China flights by the end of this year.
This service was suspended in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequently, relations between the two countries deteriorated due to the Galwan Valley clash.
Since earlier this year, as part of the Government's approach towards gradual normalization of relations between India and China, the civil aviation authorities of the two countries have been engaged in technical-level discussions on resuming direct air services between the two countries and on a revised Air Services Agreement.
Following these discussions, it has now been agreed that direct air services connecting designated points in India and China can resume by late October 2025, in keeping with the winter season schedule, subject to commercial decision of the designated carriers from the two countries and fulfilment of all operational criteria.
This agreement of the civil aviation authorities will further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.