India, China To Resume Direct Flights By Late October

Last Updated:October 02, 2025, 18:42 IST

India and China will resume direct flights by October 2025, aiming to normalise relations and boost people-to-people contact, MEA said.

MEA said that the agreement would facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China.

India announced that direct air services with China will resume by the end of October, the first such flights since 2020, in a move seen as a step towards normalisation of ties between New Delhi and Beijing. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said civil aviation authorities from both countries had, since earlier this year, held technical-level discussions on resuming flights and finalising a revised Air Services Agreement.

“Following these discussions, it has now been agreed that direct air services connecting designated points in India and China can resume by late October 2025, in keeping with the winter season schedule, subject to the commercial decisions of designated carriers from the two countries and fulfilment of all operational criteria,” the MEA said.

The ministry added that the resumption would “further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges.”

The decision to restore flights also follows Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, where the two leaders discussed ways to stabilise relations.

Flights between the two countries were suspended in early 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Except for limited repatriation services, they never resumed, even after both sides lifted travel restrictions. Relations further deteriorated that year after the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, which pushed bilateral ties to their lowest point in decades.

In recent months, however, there have been signs of a tentative thaw. India resumed issuing visas to Chinese citizens last month, while China reopened access for Indian pilgrims undertaking the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

The restoration of direct air links is expected to ease travel for students, businesspeople and families, who have had to rely on lengthy connecting routes for nearly five years.

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