India, China make progress on starting direct flights

Despite the increasing dialogue, government officials remain cautious about providing a timeline for resuming flights.

Discussions revolving around the resumption of direct passenger flights between India and China have gained momentum, as the Chinese government is eager to restart operations, multiple government officials told Moneycontrol.

"The Chinese government has requested another meeting with its Indian counterpart. Talks are in progress for a fresh representation to restart direct flights and strengthen bilateral ties," an official said.

On September 12, a meeting was held between civil aviation minister K. Rammohan Naidu and Song Zhiyong, Administrator of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Talks have gathered pace and there are "positive indications" that direct flights are likely to resume soon.

A second official said that both nations had agreed in August to intensify diplomatic and military contacts to resolve border standoffs. The Chinese government is keen to address business-related travel issues. "The Chinese government has repeatedly urged the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to make travel easier for Chinese businessmen, technicians, and engineers," the official said.

In response, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry has set up an online portal to fast-track visas for Chinese technicians, particularly for those sectors involved in the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

Emails to the spokespersons of the MoCA, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the MEA did not elicit any response till the time of the publication of this article.

Officials are cautious about providing a definitive timeline for resuming flights, despite the bilateral talks gathering momentum.

China remains India’s largest source of imports, accounting for about 15 per cent of all inbound shipments in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. On the contrary, India’s exports to China were 3.4 per cent during the same period. India’s imports of industrial goods from China soared by 215.3 per cent between 2007 and 2022, reaching $79.7 billion, significantly outpacing the growth of inbound shipments from the rest of the world.

Although the numbers of direct flights have not been finalised yet, there are signs of increased travel between the two nations, following a lull caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Scheduled flights between India and China — the world’s second and third-largest domestic aviation markets — were suspended in 2020 due to the pandemic. Except for a few repatriation flights, services have yet to resume, even as pandemic restrictions were lifted over two years ago.

Subhash Goyal, chairman of the aviation and tourism committee at the Indian Chamber of Commerce, emphasised the need for direct flights. "People are traveling via third countries such as Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, and also Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Indian and Chinese airlines must restart flights rather than giving business to third-country carriers," he said.

Prior to the suspension of direct flight services, the airlines  operated largely full capacity. Travellers are facing higher costs and longer journeys due to the lack of direct flights. A round-trip between New Delhi and Beijing in 2019 took six hours and cost up to $550. Now, the fastest options involve a 10.5-hour flying time and a to-and-fro ticket costs over $1,200.

In December 2019, 539 direct flights connected India and China. However, China accounted for 1.1-1.5 per cent of all international traffic from India in the October-December quarter of that year. Though passenger traffic between the two countries  halted, there is no let up in air freight. Imports from China to India rose in 2022 and 2023. Imports declined marginally this year due to disruptions caused by India’s general elections.

In the April-June quarter of 2024, India imported 4,000 tonnes of air cargo from China, a drop from the 7,050 tonnes in the same quarter the previous year and 8,550 tonnes in 2022. Data shows that 6,000 tonnes were imported in 2019.