Direct passenger flights between Guangzhou and Shanghai with Delhi have resumed after a pause of more than five years, China Daily reports. India’s largest airline, IndiGo, began operating a daily Guangzhou-Delhi route on Monday, with flights taking around four and a half hours, while China Eastern Airlines is now flying from Shanghai to Delhi and back three times a week.
These are the second and third China-India routes to re-start since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash and the Covid-19 pandemic grounded all commercial flights between the two countries. Their resumption followed multiple rounds of talks as diplomats worked to rebuild ties.
Late October saw the first route back in action: Kolkata-Guangzhou, flown by IndiGo.
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IndiGo CEO Pieter Elbers has said that connecting Delhi to Guangzhou would “strengthen travel options and encourage economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries.” He thanked both governments for support in restoring the route.
On Tuesday, IndiGo announced a new collaboration with China Southern Airlines to expand their respective passengers’ access to cities across both India and China.
“With China Southern’s massive network in Guangzhou and IndiGo’s extensive network in India, we have a great opportunity to build this relationship,” Elbers said.
Deng Zhiyan, an expert on Hindi studies from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, told China Daily that the return of direct passenger flights between China and India was “hard-won” and would benefit large numbers of students, tourists, entrepreneurs and religious pilgrims eager to travel between the two countries.
