Chinese airlines resume flights to India after five-year gap

China Eastern Airlines Delhi-bound flight. PIC/X@ActuMeridien

China Eastern Airlines started its Shanghai-Delhi service on Sunday with a 95 per cent occupancy, becoming the first mainland Chinese carrier this year to resume direct flights to India after a gap of five years.

Flight MU563, carrying 248 passengers, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport for Delhi, the state-run Global Times reported. Indian airline IndiGo will begin its daily Delhi-Guangzhou service from November 10. The Shanghai-Delhi route is considered a key corridor linking two major economic centres and is expected to boost exchanges in trade, economy and culture, the report said.

Flights between India and the Chinese mainland resumed on October 26 when an IndiGo aircraft landed at Guangzhou in Guangdong province from Kolkata, ending a hiatus that began with the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Services were not restored due to the military standoff between the two countries in eastern Ladakh, which ended in October last year. In recent months, the two sides have taken a series of measures to rebuild engagement.

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