More China-India direct flights seen as positive

Indian air carrier IndiGo officially resumed its daily direct flights from Delhi to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on Monday after a hiatus of over five years, further promoting ties between the two Asian neighbors.

The route, which uses IndiGo's Airbus A320neo aircraft, is set to offer passengers an economical, convenient and comfortable travel option.

IndiGo completed a direct flight from Kolkata to Guangzhou on Oct 27, marking the official resumption of direct passenger flights between the two countries, which had been suspended since the COVID-19 pandemic.

IndiGo is the first Indian airline to resume direct flights between the two nations.

"Following the successful resumption of our Kolkata-Guangzhou route, we are very delighted to further expand Indi-Go's presence in China with this new daily connection from Delhi," said Pieter Elbers, CEO of IndiGo.

"This new route from the Indian capital and our largest domestic hub, will strengthen travel options and encourage economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries. It will also connect Guangzhou to IndiGo's vast domestic network of 90+ destinations, giving access across India to Chinese travelers," he said.

"We are thankful to both governments for their support in restoring these links, opening significant opportunities for trade, tourism and collaboration," Elbers said.

"As we continue to expand internationally, we remain committed to building such strategic air corridors that foster deeper regional connectivity and unlock new avenues for growth," he added.

IndiGo also announced a collaboration with China Southern Airlines on Tuesday to leverage their network connectivity.

"With China Southern's massive network in Guangzhou and Indi-Go's extensive network in India, we have a great opportunity to build this relationship," Elbers said.

Meanwhile, China Eastern Airlines also resumed direct passenger flights between Shanghai and Delhi starting Sunday, becoming the first domestic airline to resume direct flights between the two nations after a gap of five years. Its passenger occupancy rate on the first outbound flight exceeded 95 percent.

China Eastern operates an Airbus A330 aircraft on the route three times a week — on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Deng Zhiyan, an expert on Hindi studies from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, said the official resumption of direct passenger flights between China and India is a positive signal for the development of bilateral relations.

For business travelers and students shuttling between the two countries, the news is "hard-won "and, more importantly, "it comes at the right time", Deng said in an interview with China Daily.

"Looking back at the previous 'Golden Decade' of China-India relations, the intensive direct flights between the two sides carried a large number of students, tourists, entrepreneurs and pilgrims, closely connecting the two societies," Deng added.

The flights served as the most intuitive footnote to the "dance of the dragon and the elephant", she said.

The resumption of direct flights will greatly promote business negotiations, academic seminars, study visits and private family visits between China and India, providing the most direct channel for enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the two peoples, Deng said.

"It is an important step for both sides to move toward each other. And this is not only a resumption in the aviation sense, but also a navigator for reshaping mutual trust and restarting exchanges," she said.

Deng said she is expecting China and India to seize the opportunity to further simplify visa procedures, increase flight frequencies, and gradually expand exchanges and cooperation to broader fields such as culture, education and tourism, properly manage differences, and help bilateral relations stay on track toward healthy and stable development.