China-India direct flights to resume as both sides move cautiously to repair ties

Services between major cities will restart later this month, ending five-year suspension between world’s two most populous countries

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After several years of strained ties, the resumption of direct flights between China and India is a major step towards normalising relations. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 5:13pm, 3 Oct 2025Updated: 5:18pm, 3 Oct 2025

China and India have finalised a schedule to resume direct flights, with the first trips set to restart later this month as both countries cautiously ease bilateral tensions amid increasingly turbulent geopolitical headwinds.

The flights will be subject to the approvals of the designated carriers based on commercial demand and “operational criteria”, according to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, said on Thursday that it would resume flights to China on October 26, offering services between Kolkata in eastern India and Guangzhou in southern China.

Depending on approval, IndiGo also plans to launch direct flights between New Delhi and Guangzhou soon, while the country’s other large carrier, Air India, aims to resume nonstop flights between Delhi and Shanghai by the end of the year, according to Indian media.

The resumption of direct flights would end a five-year suspension between the world’s two most populous countries. India and China initially agreed to resume direct flights in January and reaffirmed the decision in June, while India lifted restrictions on tourist visas for Chinese nationals earlier this year.

The ministry said the flights were expected to boost people-to-people exchanges and pave the way for a gradual normalisation of ties.

Direct air services were suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic, and did not resume after the 2020 Galwan Valley border clash that froze bilateral ties.

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