Shanghai: State-backed China Eastern Airlines will restart direct flights between Shanghai and Delhi from November 9, marking the first such route in five years.
The move comes as China and India resume air connectivity with signs of a diplomatic thaw, spurred in part by aggressive US trade policies that have pushed the two Asian powers to re-engage. According to the airline’s official website, flights will operate three times a week on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Ticket sales for the route have already opened online, though the airline has not issued an official statement in response to media queries.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs confirmed that commercial air services between the neighbouring countries would resume after a five-year freeze, signalling cautious optimism in bilateral relations.
The announcement followed Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first visit to China in over seven years for a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit. During the meeting, both sides discussed ways to strengthen trade cooperation, with Modi reportedly expressing concern over India’s widening trade deficit with China.
In a related development, IndiGo, India’s largest airline, has announced plans to launch daily nonstop flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport said it would further encourage airlines to expand connectivity, including possible Guangzhou–Delhi routes.
Direct flights between India and China were suspended in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, and relations soured further after deadly border clashes in the Galwan Valley, where 20 Indian and 4 Chinese soldiers lost their lives, the worst violence between the two nations in decades.
The recent revival of diplomatic engagement coincides with escalating trade tensions between Washington and Asian economies. US President Donald Trump has raised tariffs on Indian imports to 50 percent, citing the country’s continued purchases of Russian oil, and has called on the European Union to impose 100 percent tariffs on China and India, as part of efforts to pressure Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.
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