Direct flights between India and China will resume in late October, after having remained suspended for five years since March 2020, stated the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.

The first flight on October 26 will be operated by the airline IndiGo, connecting Kolkata to Guangzhou – tickets for which will go on sale on Friday, reported The Hindu.

Flights between India and China were suspended in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The services were not resumed amid border tensions between the two countries that escalated in June 2020 when a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers took place in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control.

In January, New Delhi and Beijing agreed to restore direct flights, ease visa restrictions and resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra.

“Since earlier this year, as part of the government's approach towards gradual normalisation of relations between India and China, the civil aviation authorities of the two countries have been engaged in technical-level discussions on resuming direct air services between the two countries and on a revised Air Services Agreement,” stated India’s Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday.

It added that flight services between the two countries will be restored in late October, “in keeping with the winter season schedule, subject to commercial decision of the designated carriers from the two countries and fulfilment of all operational criteria”.

“This agreement of the civil aviation authorities will further facilitate people-to-people contact between India and China, contributing towards the gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges,” stated the ministry.

Since March 2020, travellers between India and China have been relying on third-country hubs such as Singapore, Hong Kong and Bangkok.

Since the Galwan clashes, China and India have held several rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve their border standoff.

In October 2024, the two countries announced that they had reached a patrolling arrangement along the Line of Actual Control, “leading to the disengagement” of the two militaries in eastern Ladakh.

The agreement came two days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan. This was the first formal meeting of the two leaders since the military standoff began in mid-2020.

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