IndiGo to resume Kolkata-Guangzhou flights as India and China reopen direct air links

# IndiGo to resume Kolkata-Guangzhou flights as India and China reopen direct air links

Direct flights between India and China are set to resume at the end of October, with IndiGo announcing daily non-stop service between Kolkata and Guangzhou from October 26.

The announcement marks the first direct passenger link between the two countries in five years, according to DW. A second route from New Delhi to an as yet unconfirmed Chinese city is also planned, although the source does not name the destination.

The significance of the move is both practical and political. Direct flights make travel, trade and business ties easier, but they also signal that two governments that had drifted apart are willing to rebuild at least part of the relationship.

The report says the decision follows an agreement by Indian and Chinese civil aviation authorities that direct air services can resume by late October. India's government said the move would further facilitate people-to-people contact and contribute to the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.

That normalisation matters because the flights were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic and never restored after relations worsened in the wake of border clashes in 2020. The report notes that four Chinese soldiers and 20 Indian troops were killed in the worst violence between the two countries in decades. Even though the suspension was initially tied to the pandemic, the broader freeze in ties kept the routes shut.

The timing also follows a diplomatic thaw. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Shanghai at the end of August, his first trip to China in seven years, and declared alongside Chinese Premier Xi Jinping that the two countries were development partners, not rivals. That is not a full strategic reset, but it does point to a more functional tone.

IndiGo said the return of the flights would reopen avenues for cross-border trade, strategic business partnerships and tourism. Those are familiar airline talking points, but they reflect real demand in a relationship between the world's two most populous countries.

Observers have linked the thaw to tariff threats made by US President Donald Trump against both countries. The report does not claim that tariffs alone caused the change, but it suggests external pressure may have helped push India and China toward a more pragmatic posture.

The packet also notes that Beijing recently granted permission for Indian pilgrims to travel to Mount Kailash in Tibet for the first time since the 2020 border clashes. That detail supports the idea that a broader easing is under way, not just a narrow aviation deal.

For now, the immediate news is the date: October 26. If the flights begin as planned, they will restore a link that disappeared during the pandemic and remained absent through years of tension. That makes this more than an airline schedule update. It is a small but visible sign of diplomatic repair.