China, India Expand Direct Air Links Amid Diplomatic Improvements
Air China is set to restart its non-stop Beijing–Delhi service on Tuesday, according to reports from state media. This marks the second route to India reinstated by Chinese carriers within a week.
Just days earlier, China Eastern Airlines resumed flights between Kunming in Yunnan Province and Kolkata in eastern India on April 18. The move is part of a broader gradual restoration of air travel links between the two countries.
The renewed Beijing–Delhi service will operate using Airbus A330 aircraft and is scheduled for three weekly departures on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Tickets reportedly begin at around $523, with flights leaving Beijing in the afternoon and arriving in Delhi in the evening local time.
China Eastern has also been expanding its India operations further, having restarted its Shanghai–Delhi route in late 2025. The newly reinstated Kolkata service now runs multiple weekly round trips.
Indian airlines have similarly increased connectivity. IndiGo, India’s largest carrier, recently launched daily flights between Kolkata and Shanghai in late March, alongside earlier routes connecting Kolkata and Guangzhou as well as Delhi and Guangzhou.
Direct flights between the two countries were fully restored in October 2025 after being suspended for several years. The suspension began during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and was later compounded by heightened tensions following a border clash in the same year.
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