After the announcement of India’s Foreign Ministry (Mea), the Direct Air connectivity between India and China is being restored from the end of October 2025. According to this, India’s largest airline IndiGo will start a daily flight for Kolkata-Gongzhou from 26 October and will soon run flights on the Delhi-Gaungzhou route.
Flights were closed after East Ladakh dispute and Kovid
There were direct flights between India and China before Covid-19. There was no direct flight from India only for Hong Kong. These flights were closed in 2020 after the Eastern Ladakh dispute and due to global epidemic. Due to lack of direct flights, tickets became expensive and long, as passengers had to take connecting flights from Hub Airport in South-East Asia.
Booking has started from October 3
Booking has started from October 3 for Kolkata-Gaunangzhou flights. Airbus A320NEO will be used in flights. IndiGo says this step will promote trade, tourism and strategic partnership between two countries.
Air India plan
Air India is also planning to start Delhi-Shaghai Direct Flight. However, Air India has not yet made an official announcement.
India-China relations and air connectivity
Since the beginning of this year, the civil aviation officers of both countries have been discussing direct flights and having technical discussions on the air services agreement. China has always been demanding direct flights and visa normalization from India. In 2019, there were 539 direct flights per month, out of which about 31% operated India’s airlines and 70% Chinese airlines.
Benefits
The restoration of direct flights will make the journey fast and easier.
Airlines of both countries will get a chance to increase cells and passenger numbers.
The dependence of Hong Kong, Singapore and other South-East Asian Hubs will be low.
IndiGo says that this step will help to increase India’s international network capacity and strengthen its position globally.
