5 yrs on, India, China to restart direct flights later this month

NEW DELHI: In the middle of Dussehra festivities, India Thursday announced resumption of direct air services with China from late Oct, marking another significant step in efforts to normalise the relationship that saw PM Narendra Modi visiting Tianjin last month for the SCO summit and also having a bilateral meeting with President Xi Jinping.

This is the second major step taken by India to facilitate regular exchanges between the two countries, after govt resumed tourist visas for Chinese nationals.

Govt said in a statement that the agreement between civil aviation authorities would further ease people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges , and economic cooperation.

Direct flights remained suspended since early 2020, initially because of the pandemic and later because of military and political tensions. India’s efforts to normalise the relationship have acquired a greater sense of urgency because of its recent experience with the Trump administration. Both countries had agreed in principle to resume air services in Jan during foreign secretary Vikram Misri’s visit. Since then, said MEA, civil aviation authorities had been engaged in technical-level discussions on resuming direct air services and on a revised Air Services Agreement .

Shortly after MEA’s announcement, IndiGo said it would start a daily nonstop between Kolkata and Guangzhou from Oct 26. The airline will fly between Delhi and Guangzhou, the date for which will be announced shortly. Air India is likely to resume China flights with a nonstop between Delhi and Shanghai by the year-end, say sources.

IndiGo said its “familiarity with local partners” enabled it to resume these flights swiftly. IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers said: “This will once again allow seamless movement of people, goods, and ideas, while also strengthening bilateral ties between two of the world’s most populous countries and fast-growing economies...” The flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou will open for sale from Friday.