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    India-China flights can restart from late October: External Affairs Ministry

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    By Jagriti Chandra

    Copyright thehindu

    India-China flights can restart from late October: External Affairs Ministry

    After a gap of nearly five years, India and China flights can start from October 2025, Ministry of External Affairs said in a press statement.

    “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,” according to the MEA statement.

    The winter schedule starts on the last Sunday of October, which in 2025 will be October 26.

    The statement added that the decision to resume flights will be 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,” read the statement.

    IndiGo announces daily flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou

    Soon after the announcement from the External Affairs MInistry, IndiGo on Thursday announced daily flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou from October 26. The airline will also begin flights between Delhi and Guangzhou, it said in a statement.

    “We are delighted to announce the resumption of daily, non-stop flights between India and China. This will strengthen bilateral ties between the two countries,” IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said.

    Direct flights between India and China have remained suspended since March 2020, when India banned all international travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Even as international connections gradually resumed through special air bubble arrangements from May 2020 until March 2022 when normal commercial international flights were once again permitted, direct flights between India and China did not restart due to tensions between the two countries following the Galwan valley clash of June 2020.

    For over five years, travellers needing to move between India and China relied on connecting flights via third-country hubs like Hong Kong and Singapore, resulting in increased travel time and costs.

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