How India-China Direct Flights Went From 539 ... to Zero

27.06.2024 - 06:57 / skift.com / Peden Doma Bhutia

In December 2019, India and China were connected through 539 direct passenger flights. Now there are none.

IndiGo and Air India had operated flights to China while Air China, China Southern Airlines, and China Eastern Airlines, had connected Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou to Indian cities.

The two countries suspended these flights during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent border clashes in June 2020 – there are still thousands of troops mobilized on both sides.

A recent Reuters report said that China has been pushing to resume direct air links between the two countries, but India remains cautious due to the strained diplomatic relations.

In the absence of direct flights, travelers between India and China must rely on connecting flights through third countries, such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore. The detour adds time and cost.

In 2019, a round-trip economy class ticket between New Delhi and Beijing typically ranged between $350 to $550, and took around six hours. Currently, the shortest flight duration between New Delhi and Beijing is 10.5 hours, with fares around $1,280. The cheapest available flights take roughly 12 hours and cost $650.

“China’s strict Covid-19 travel policies, including the ‘circuit-breaker’ rule which suspended flights if passengers tested positive upon arrival, further complicated the resumption of direct flights,” said Linus Benjamin Bauer, founder and managing director of Bauer Aviation Advisory. Although China has relaxed this rule, it has not yet led to the resumption of direct flights, Bauer noted.

Visa restrictions are also a barrier.

Nuo Li, a sustainable tourism consultant from Beijing, experienced this firsthand when applying for an Indian e-visa in March 2024 in London, where she currently lives.

Li first visited India in March 2019 on a straightforward double-entry e-visa to meet her boyfriend’s family in the southern Indian state of Kerala. This year, she found no travel visa category for Chinese nationals.

“During my appointment at the VFS office in London, the staff handling my application informed me that they could not accept my application and advised me to seek special approval from the Indian Embassy in London,” Li told Skift. She said she wrote to the Indian embassy but hasn’t received any response so far.

Responding to a Skift query, a VFS Global spokesperson said, “Chinese nationals applying for an Indian visa must submit their applications from their home country as per the directives of the High Commission of India.”

The spokesperson said that for further clarification, applicants would need to directly contact the High Commission of India in London.

The Consulate General of India’s office in Guangzhou states on its website that e-visas for