After a five-year hiatus, direct flights between India and China are set to resume later this month, marking a step towards normalizing bilateral relations. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Thursday, October 2, 2025, that direct air services connecting designated points in India and China can resume by late October, subject to the commercial decisions of the designated carriers and the fulfillment of all operational requirements.
Flight services between the two countries were initially suspended in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained suspended amidst the eastern Ladakh border tensions. The resumption of flights follows months of technical-level discussions between civil aviation authorities from both countries and a revised air services agreement.
IndiGo has announced that it will restart flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou, China, beginning October 26, 2025. The airline will operate daily, non-stop services connecting the two cities. Pending regulatory approvals, IndiGo also plans to launch direct flights between Delhi and Guangzhou in the near future. Tata-owned Air India will also reportedly start flights between Delhi and Shanghai and is awaiting approval. Reportedly, the carrier will operate double daily services connecting both Delhi and Kolkata to Guangzhou.
The resumption of direct flights and normalization of visa issuances had been demands China has been making over the past couple of years. In January 2025, during Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri's visit to Beijing, the two countries agreed “in principle” to resume direct flights. The matter was also discussed in the preceding months between the foreign and aviation ministers of the two countries. During Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi in August 2025, both sides agreed to resume direct flight connectivity between the Chinese mainland and India at the 'earliest'.
The lack of direct air connectivity between India and mainland China, along with stringent visa restrictions, has led to airlines from both countries losing out on potential revenue. According to the MEA, the resumption of direct air services will further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalization of bilateral exchanges.
The tourism industry has also welcomed the government's decision. Subhash Goyal, founder-chairman of STIC Travel Group of Companies, stated that China is one of the world's largest sources for outbound tourism and has a significant contribution to inbound tourism for India. He added that the resumption of air links between the two countries is especially welcome as India hasn't yet reached pre-COVID levels of inbound tourists.
The move also signals a cautious easing of bilateral tensions. A month ago, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time in seven years to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation regional security bloc. Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were development partners, not rivals and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty. Modi also conveyed India's commitment to improving ties and raised concerns about its widening trade deficit with China, which stands at nearly US$99.2 billion. He emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability along their disputed border, where a clash in 2020 triggered a five-year military standoff.
