IATA: China-India services to resume, market size 'modest' compared to populations
IATA confirmed (17-Oct-2025) direct air services between China and India are expected to resume on 26-Oct-2025. Operations between the countries were halted in early 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and remained suspended amid "prolonged border tensions". Prior to the suspension, China-India passenger traffic was growing at double digit rates and had doubled between 2011 and 2019, reaching nearly one million p/a on "roughly a dozen" daily flights. IATA noted "the volume of direct air travel remained modest" compared to the scale of the countries' populations. [more - original PR]
Background ✨
IndiGo scheduled the launch of daily Kolkata-Guangzhou service on 26-Oct-2025, representing the first nonstop service between India and China since early 2020, and also planned to add Delhi-Guangzhou by the end of 2025. China Eastern Airlines set plans to start three times weekly Shanghai Pudong-Delhi service from 09-Nov-2025, further restoring direct connectivity between the two countries1 2.