New Delhi: As India-China relations continue to improve, Air China has restarted direct flights on the Beijing-New Delhi route after a gap of almost six years. The service will operate on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday every week using Airbus A330-200/300 aircraft.
Direct flights between the two countries were halted in 2020 during COVID-19 and remained suspended amid breakdown in ties following the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, which resulted in casualties on both sides.
As of now, India-China connectivity involves around 20 direct flights a week compared to over 40 weekly flights before 2020. These include, apart from Air China’s three weekly flights now, IndiGo’s daily Kolkata-Shanghai and Delhi-Guangzhou services, started in the last six months, and China Eastern Airlines’ six weekly Kunming-Kolkata flights that were resumed this week.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had visited China in July 2025, for the first time in five years, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Tianjin, and the subject of resumption of flights, along with border management and trade, was discussed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi then visited Tianjin in August 2025 for the SCO Summit—his first visit to China in over seven years—and met President Xi Jinping, signalling a massive improvement in India-China ties.
On X, Yu Jing, Chinese Embassy spokesperson in India, referred to the resumption as a “strong start”.
Speaking to ThePrint, former Indian ambassador to China, Gautam Bambawale, said ties between the two nations remained fragile.
“Resumption of flights is a matter at a tactical level. At a strategic level, India-China ties remain fragile and much needs to be done on both sides to restore stability.”
“Having direct flights between India and China is better than not having such direct connectivity, however, this is a mere restoration of what existed earlier. Direct flights do enhance people-to-people ties. They can be snapped if political relations nosedive in future,” he added.
Other industry experts described the resumption of air travel as “low-hanging fruit” in the normalisation of India-China ties.
Vikas Swarup, former ambassador and international affairs expert, told ThePrint: “Supply chains are deeply embedded, and it’s important that business travel resumes. This is a welcome move and will benefit trade.”
“In 2020, we had to respond forcefully to the situation, and banning Chinese flights was part of that response. But China is not something India can do away with. Even after the Galwan Valley clash, the trade deficit has risen sharply—from about $44 billion (in FY21) to around $110 billion (in FY26)—showing that business ties have continued to grow.”
ThePrint reached out to Air China via mail for a comment on the resumption of flights and a response is awaited.
‘Hope Indian airlines will take advantage’
Prior to 2020, India-China air routes handled around 1.2-1.3 million passengers annually, which corresponds to 100,000 passengers a month, according to industry estimates.
According to industry experts, it will take time for air traffic to return to pre-2020 levels, but it is expected to grow as connectivity improves. On the economic front, both countries have made progress, and business, trade and travel are all expected to get a boost.
India-China trade has continued to expand, reaching $155 billion in 2025, with trade deficit widening to over $100 billion in FY26, according to data from the Union commerce ministry.
Last month, commerce minister Piyush Goyal met his Chinese counterpart Wang Wentao on the sidelines of WTO’s 14th Ministerial Conference in Cameroon, where the Chinese side said they were ready to work with India to strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation.
Also last month, at a meeting with outgoing Indian Ambassador to China, Pradeep Kumar Rawat in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said India-China ties were on a “correct path of improvement” and that their shared interests outweighed their differences, adding that China was ready to work with India for development.
In 2024, Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran had also backed greater economic engagement with China, suggesting India could boost exports by integrating into Chinese supply chains or attracting investment.
Aviation expert Sanjay Lazar described the resumption of flights as “significant”.
“Chinese carriers dominated the market with 70-80% of the 1.25 million pax when it closed. The reopening of India-China direct air traffic after so long is a very significant step, for both Indian and Chinese carriers. It is hoped that Indian airlines will take advantage of the huge pent-up demand for China travel in business, trade & tourism markers and take a good market share,” he said to ThePrint.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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