India-China direct flights to resume by month-end: MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs(MEA)on Thursday stated that direct air services linking designated points in India and China are set to resume by late October, lining up with the winter schedule.

“The resumption of flights will go through the business choices of the designated providers from both nations, in addition to the satisfaction of all essential functional requirements,” the MEA stated in a declaration.

< p lang ="en" dir ="ltr"> It has actually now been concurred that direct air services linking designated points in India and China can resume by late October 2025, in keeping with the winter schedule, based on business choice of the designated providers from the 2 nations and fulfilment of all … pic.twitter.com/EU69mrPxHo

— ANI (@ANI) October 2, 2025

The ministry included that the resumption would “even more help with people-to-people contact in between India and China, contributing towards the progressive normalisation of bilateral exchanges.”

IndiGo on Thursday revealed the resumption of direct services to Mainland China, with day-to-day non-stop flights in between Kolkata and Guangzhou (CAN) beginning October 26.

Topic to regulative approvals, the airline company likewise prepares to introduce direct flights in between Delhi and Guangzhou in the future.

IndiGo stated it will run these paths utilizing its Airbus A320neo airplane, intending to bring back channels for cross-border trade, company collaborations, and tourist.

In an associated advancement, Air India is likewise preparing to resume services to Shanghai, sources stated.

The choice to resume direct flights follows months of technical-level conversations in between the civil air travel authorities of both nations, as part of a more comprehensive method to slowly normalise bilateral relations that had actually stayed stretched in the last few years.

The choice likewise follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) top, where the 2 leaders talked about methods to stabilise relations.

Flights in between India and China were suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, apart from minimal repatriation efforts, have actually stayed grounded even after travel constraints were raised.

The circumstance was additional intensified by the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, which plunged bilateral relations to their floor in years.

With inputs from companies