New Delhi: After being suspended for five years, direct air connectivity between India and China has officially restarted. The announcement came from Yu Jing, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, via a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday. The first flight on the renewed route operated from Kolkata to Guangzhou.

According to IndiGo, the airline will launch daily flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou using its Airbus aircraft starting November 11.

Additionally, beginning November 9, there will be three weekly flights operating on the Shanghai–New Delhi route.

Direct flights between the two nations were halted in June 2020 following the Galwan Valley clash in eastern Ladakh and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The border tensions, which persisted until October 2024, led to a freeze in several areas of bilateral engagement, including trade and tourism.

The resumption of direct flights is now seen as a positive step toward rebuilding economic and people-to-people ties between the two neighboring countries.