Direct flights between India and China have resumed as relations between the two countries appear to be thawing.
Indigo 6E flight 1703 from Kolkata landed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou on Monday with about 180 passengers on board.
Flights between the two countries were first suspended in early 2020 due to the Covid pandemic and have not resumed since deadly clashes in the disputed Himalayan border region heightened tensions.
But the two countries have been steadily rebuilding their relationship and last year reached a landmark agreement on border patrol.
In a statement announcing the development earlier this month, the Indian government said the resumption of direct flights would “promote people-to-people contact” and help in the “gradual normalization of bilateral exchanges.”
This is part of a series of developments that mark a gradual normalization of relations between the neighboring countries.
Last August, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited China for the first time in seven years with President Xi Jinping to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit. Earlier that month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited India and discussed “de-escalation, boundary demarcation and demarcation issues” with officials in Delhi.
India also resumed issuing visas to Chinese tourists in July.
The two countries operated about 2,588 scheduled flights in 2019 before the service was suspended, according to travel data provider OAG.
At the Kolkata airport on Sunday evening, airline staff lit brass oil lamps to mark the resumption of direct flights as IndiGo passengers checked in.
Senior Chinese consulate official Qin Yong told reporters at the airport that it was “a very important day for India-China relations.”
Passengers expressed their joy that the journey time to China would now be shortened.
Krishna Goyal, who said he was traveling to China on business, told news agency ANI that direct flights would boost trade and relations between the two countries.
“Earlier, I had to change two or three flights (to get to China). I used to go from Kolkata to Singapore and from there to China,” he said.
China Eastern Airlines plans to launch a route between Shanghai and Delhi next month. A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in India posted to
Additional reporting by Neyaz Farooquee in Delhi
