The Centre on Thursday (October 2, 2025) gave the green signal to resume direct flights between India and China after a gap of five years, with IndiGo’s flights from Kolkata to the trading hub of Guangzhou set for take-off from October 26.

“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,” a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding that the move will “further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.”

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The statement was followed by IndiGo announcing daily flights between Guangzhou and Kolkata, adding that the trading city would be connected with New Delhi soon, “subject to regulatory approvals”. Tickets for flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou will open for sale from Friday (October 3). Industry sources said Air India too expects to start flights to Shanghai “before the end of the year”.

In July, the Indian government had announced resumption of tourist visas to Chinese nationals.

Direct flights between India and China have been suspended since March 2020, when India halted all international travel amid the Covid-19 pandemic. While restrictions eased gradually for many countries, flights to China remained suspended due to heightened tensions along the Line of Actual Control.

IndiGo’s flights start on the first day of the winter schedule that begins on the last Sunday of October. The annual aviation timetable is divided into summer and winter schedules and allows airlines to plan and adjust flights. Summer schedule starts from the last Sunday in March.

On the resumption of flights by Chinese carriers such as Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, and Shandong Airlines, sources said there has been a delay in submission of their applications to the government. Air China is learnt to have sought permission to connect Beijing with Delhi and later Mumbai, said one industry veteran.

Though all international flights were banned on March 22, 2020, as part of lockdown measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 pandemic, international flights gradually resumed from the first week of May 2020 through special air bubble arrangements until March 2022, when normal commercial international flights were once again permitted. But direct flights between India and China did not restart because of tensions in the relationship between the two countries following the Galwan Valley clash of June 2020.

The disruption had especially impacted small traders. For over five years, travellers needing to move between India and China relied on connecting flights via third-country hubs such as Hong Kong and Singapore, resulting in increased travel time and costs.

The tourism industry welcomed the government’s decision. “China is one of the world’s largest sources for outbound tourism and has a significant contribution to inbound tourism for India. Resumption of air links between the two countries is welcome, especially as India hasn’t yet reached pre-COVID levels of inbound tourists, which used to be at 11.5 million and today lags behind at 9.5 million,” said founder-chairman of STIC Travel Group of Companies, Subhash Goyal.