India and China Resuming Direct Flights Following a Five-Year Break
India and China have started flying directly again after a five-year break. This means that ties between the two neighbors are getting better.
At the BRICS gathering in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, 2024, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet for a short time. The India Press Information Bureau sent this handout through REUTERS.
India and China can now fly directly to each other again. This is a big step toward improving relations between the two Asian giants.
Monday, IndiGo flight 6E 1703 from Kolkata landed in Guangzhou, southern China, with about 180 people on board. It was the first direct business flight between the two countries since early 2020.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, flights were temporarily halted. They stayed grounded after a deadly border clash in the Himalayas caused international tensions to rise. But since then, both countries have taken steps to make peace, including last year’s signing of a historic deal on how to work together on border patrols.
The Indian government said in a statement earlier this month that the move would “make it easier for people to meet” and help “the gradual normalization of bilateral exchanges.”
The start up again is part of a larger trend of ties getting stronger. Narendra Modi, the prime minister of India, went to China for the first time in seven years in August. He met with President Xi Jinping at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization gathering. This came after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi went to New Delhi and talked with Indian officials about “de-escalation, delimitation, and boundary affairs.”
India also started giving visas to Chinese tourists again in July, which was another step to get things back to normal.
According to OAG, a company that collects travel statistics, the two countries had almost 2,600 regular flights each year before the pandemic. The new route should join important business and tourist routes. On November 9, China Eastern Airlines said it would start flying three times a week between Shanghai and Delhi.
On Sunday at Kolkata Airport, IndiGo employees lit brass oil lamps to mark the occasion before the flight. A top Chinese consular official named Qin Yong said that the day was “very important for the relationship between India and China.”
People on the plane were relieved and hopeful. Krishna Goyal, a business traveler, told reporters, “In the past, we had to change two or three flights to get to China.” This will speed things up and make trade stronger.
When direct flights start up again, it means not only better connectivity but also a new effort by both countries to rebuild trust and cooperation after years of political frost.
