India and China are set to resume direct passenger flights next month, ending a four-year suspension that forced journeys through regional hubs and drove up travel time and costs. Airlines have been asked to prepare routes at short notice as officials target a rapid restart.
The timing aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned visit to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin on August 31, setting the stage for a possible announcement during or shortly after the meeting.
What is changing now
Carriers, including Air India and IndiGo, have been instructed to ready crews, slots, and schedules for China routes, signaling that approvals are in advanced stages and launch windows are under active review.
An official confirmation is expected around the SCO summit, reflecting political will to restore essential connectivity while broader normalization talks continue on parallel diplomatic tracks.
Did you know?
Before the 2020 suspension, India-China routes regularly connected New Delhi and Mumbai to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Kunming, with multiple Chinese carriers operating weekly services.
Why flights were suspended
Direct services were halted in early 2020 amid pandemic curbs and remained frozen as relations deteriorated following the Galwan Valley clash, which marked the worst border incident in decades and hardened travel and visa regimes.
In the years since, most passengers have been routed via Hong Kong, Singapore, and Bangkok, lengthening trips and complicating corporate and academic exchanges across the corridor.
Signals of a broader thaw
India resumed issuing tourist visas to Chinese nationals in July 2025, a practical step that widened the funnel for travelers and hinted at pending aviation moves tied to summit diplomacy.
Senior visits across defense and foreign policy channels have multiplied ahead of the Tianjin summit, creating a political window to unlock stalled air rights while managing security concerns.
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What to expect on routes and timelines
Initial resumptions are likely to prioritize high-demand city pairs such as Delhi-Beijing and Mumbai-Shanghai, with phased additions to Guangzhou and Kunming once aircraft rotations, crew visas, and ground handling stabilize.
Frequencies will probably ramp in stages as carriers gauge load factors, premium demand, and slot availability, with corporate travel and student flows driving early recovery.
Impact on travelers and markets
Restored nonstops should cut door-to-door times by several hours on key routes, reduce missed connections, and bring relative fare relief compared with multi-stop itineraries during the suspension period.
Logistics and manufacturing supply chains may benefit from steadier belly cargo capacity as schedules normalize, improving reliability for time-sensitive shipments.
What could still slow the rollout
Bilateral approvals on slots, crew layovers, and reciprocity could stretch timelines if negotiations run long or if security incidents complicate the political backdrop.
Airlines will balance deployment against competing network priorities, fuel and currency costs, and the need to rebuild station operations after years of inactivity.
The road ahead
If formalized at the SCO summit, a measured restart could restore a core travel bridge between the world’s two most populous nations while leaving space for continued talks on unresolved frontier issues.
A durable recovery will depend on predictable schedules, clear visa processes, and steady diplomatic momentum, setting conditions for a return to pre-2020 capacity over the coming quarters.
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