India-China Direct Flights to Resume After 5 Years

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping have announced that direct passenger flights between India and China will resume after more than five years of suspension.

The deal was signed at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin on August 31, 2025.

The announcement underscored expanded visa access and the reinstatement of religious pilgrimages such as the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. This pilgrimage holds spiritual significance across Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Bon faiths and is often viewed as a meaningful expression of cultural bridge between the two nations.

Direct flights were halted in early 2020, first as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and later due to escalating border tensions, including the violent Galwan Valley clash of June 2020, where more than 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops were killed.

Since then, travelers have had to rely on alternate routes through hubs like Singapore or Hong Kong.

While the exact date of flight restoration hasn’t been announced yet, the two countries are already preparing. Carriers on both sides are expected to resume direct services by the end of 2025.

Also, during this month, India announced an agreement with the Philippines to implement a mutual visa-free policy alongside the launch of direct flights between Delhi and Manila.

Photo by Bhavesh Sawant on Unsplash