Centre to seek airlines’ feedback before restarting India-China direct air connectivity

Flight services have been resumed between India and Hong Kong
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VELANKANNI RAJ B

The centre is set to seek feedback from airlines on their past experience of operating in China before restarting any direct flights between the two countries, industry sources told businessline.

businessline was the first to report on April 8, 2025, that delegation-level talks were held between India and China on “ways and means” to restart direct air services.

Notably, there has been no direct air connectivity between India and China since early 2020, following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation deteriorated after military clashes erupted between the two neighbours in the Galwan Valley of the Ladakh region.

Prior to Covid, airlines from both sides operated flights to many destinations, such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, New Delhi, Mumbai, and Kolkata. Flight services have been resumed between India and Hong Kong, sans mainland China.

Airfare rules

“The next meeting is expected to take place during the latter part of this month or early next month,” industry sources said.

“A key agenda item will be the issue of airfare regulations imposed by China on Indian airlines.”

Consequently, India is likely to push for greater freedom for its carriers to determine their own airfares based on demand.

The talks, industry sources said, will also touch on the expected entry of Chinese low-cost carriers into the Indian market, which is viewed as a massive opportunity to boost tourism in both countries.

According to sources, both sides hope to revive tourism and business travel by easing restrictions and increasing direct flights between the two countries.

“After the second round of talks, the delegations, which also consists of regulators, will discuss slot allocations and other operational arrangements,” added the sources.

Last week, multiple sources told businessline that India and China have started the process to resume direct flight operations by agreeing to first “streamline procedures” for airline operations.

The two countries have agreed “in principle to resume direct air services.”

Streamlining process

“Multiple stakeholders are involved in the overall talks that include issues such as visas. Specifically on the civil aviation side, talks took place in a cordial environment, and both sides heard each other’s concerns before starting the process,” sources had told businessline.

“Streamlining of processes such as slot allocation, renewal of ground handling contracts and other procedures has started.”

As per sources, the streamlining exercise would give an impetus to the industry to start operations, as the earlier system was “cumbersome as well as time-consuming.”

“After the process is completed, then it will be up to airlines to ready their ground operations at the destination airport by deploying adequate manpower and securing regulatory approvals,” sources had said.

Besides, sources said that the streamlining process will not change the contours of the existing bilateral air rights agreement.

On their part, the domestic airline industry is optimistic about resuming flight services between the two countries.

Speaking to businessline, several executives representing different airlines said that flights to China used to experience healthy load factors, sometimes up to 90 per cent.

Published on April 20, 2025

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