Direct air travel between India and China has returned after a nearly five-year pause, marking another step in the gradual improvement of bilateral ties between the Asian neighbors.
On Monday, IndiGo flight 6E 1703 touched down in Guangzhou, a major city in southern China, after departing from Kolkata with approximately 180 passengers aboard.
Air service between the two nations was initially halted in early 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, even after travel restrictions eased globally, flights remained grounded as diplomatic tensions intensified following a fatal military confrontation along their contested Himalayan frontier.
The relationship between the two countries has been on a recovery trajectory, culminating in a significant border patrol agreement reached last year.
When announcing the flight resumption earlier this month, India’s government indicated that restoring direct air connections would “facilitate people-to-people contact” and support “the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.”
This development is part of a broader pattern of diplomatic engagement between the two nations. In August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first trip to China in seven years, holding talks with President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit. That same month saw Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi travel to India for discussions with Delhi officials on “de-escalation, delimitation and boundary affairs.”
India also resumed processing tourist visas for Chinese citizens in July.
Before the suspension, air traffic between the countries was substantial—travel data provider OAG reports that approximately 2,588 scheduled flights operated between India and China in 2019.
The atmosphere at Kolkata airport Sunday evening reflected the significance of the occasion, with airline personnel lighting traditional brass oil lamps as passengers for the inaugural flight checked in.
Qin Yong, a senior Chinese consular official present at the airport, characterized the moment as “a very important day for the India-China relationship” when speaking with reporters.
Travelers welcomed the restoration of direct routes, noting the significant time savings compared to indirect travel options.
Krishna Goyal, a business traveler interviewed by ANI news agency, said direct flights would strengthen both commerce and diplomatic relations between the nations.
“Earlier, we had to change two or three flights [to reach China]. We used to go to Singapore from Kolkata and from there to China,” he explained.
Additional service is planned for next month, with China Eastern Airlines scheduled to begin operating a Shanghai-Delhi route starting November 9, with three weekly departures, according to a Chinese embassy spokesperson in India posting on X.
