Good news for travelers between India and China! China Eastern Airlines, a prominent state-backed carrier, is set to relaunch its direct flights connecting Shanghai and New Delhi starting November 9, 2025. These flights will operate three times a week—on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays—utilizing a comfortable Airbus A330-200 wide-body aircraft. This move is anticipated to be just the beginning, with other Chinese airlines expected to unveil their own flight schedules soon.
This significant development comes just over two weeks after the Indian government confirmed its decision to restore air connectivity with China, ending a five-year suspension. Following this, India’s IndiGo quickly announced flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou, beginning October 26, and Air India revealed plans to resume its Shanghai services later this year. Furthermore, Indian Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) officials have noted that other Chinese carriers like Air China (for Beijing-New Delhi passenger routes), Shandong Airlines (for Kunming-Delhi passenger routes), China Southern, and Sichuan Airlines (for Guangzhou-Delhi and Chengdu-Delhi cargo services respectively) have also submitted requests for resuming or starting operations, indicating a broad revival of air links.
Before the five-year interruption, air travel between India and China was on a robust growth trajectory, doubling from 2011 to 2019 and reaching nearly one million passengers annually, translating to about a dozen daily flights. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) previously highlighted the immense, yet largely untapped, potential of the India-China air corridor, especially when compared to the 330 daily flights between China and Japan. The restart of these flights signals a promising future for increased connectivity and economic exchange between the two most populous nations.