NEW DELHI: Air India said on Monday it will resume flights between New Delhi and China from February 2026, nearly six years after services were suspended. The move comes as recent diplomatic steps signal a cautious reopening of bilateral links.
The airline said it also plans to launch a Mumbai–Shanghai route next year, subject to regulatory approvals.
In a statement, Air India said the reinstatement of its Shanghai service follows “recent India–China diplomatic agreements that restored the air links paused in early 2020”.
China’s Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport had announced last month that flights between the two countries were set to resume.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to China earlier this year to attend a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. It was his first visit to China in seven years.
Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that India and China were “development partners, not rivals”, and discussed ways to strengthen trade ties amid global tariff uncertainty.
The resumption of flights comes despite long-standing tensions. Relations sharply deteriorated after deadly clashes along the Himalayan border in 2020.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the border clashes, prompting India to restrict Chinese investments and ban hundreds of Chinese apps, including TikTok.
However, recent gestures suggest a slow thaw. Earlier this month, Indian and Chinese soldiers stationed at the Himalayan frontier exchanged sweets during the Hindu festival of Diwali. According to Chinese embassy spokesperson Yu Jing, the exchange “marked a gesture of goodwill”.
The Indian Express, in an editorial following Modi and Xi’s August meeting in China, said improving ties “sends an appropriate signal” to Washington.
It noted, however, that “managing an increasingly assertive China remains India’s long-term challenge”.
Budget carrier IndiGo resumed flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou last month. On 27 October, direct flights between China and India restarted after a five-year gap.
IndiGo flight 6E1703 from Kolkata landed in Guangzhou with about 180 passengers. India’s government said the resumption of flights would boost “people-to-people contact” and support the “gradual normalisation of bilateral exchanges”.
