Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India for the BRICS summit, China Southern Airlines has announced the resumption of Guangzhou-New Delhi flights after a six-year suspension.
President Xi will hold a bilateral meeting with PM Modi later on Saturday. In April, direct air connectivity between India and China received another boost when Air China resumed its Beijing-Delhi service, marking the second route to India to be resumed by Chinese carriers. The launch built on IndiGo’s recent expansion in China, including the successful reinstatement of flights from Kolkata to Guangzhou and the subsequent start of operations from Delhi. The announcement followed the Ministry of External Affairs’ (MEA) confirmation of the resumption of direct flights between India and China. Meanwhile, Chinese President Xi Jinping is on his way to New Delhi for the 18th BRICS Summit at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
India and China have this year progressively restarted air services after they were suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic and tensions post the Doklam and Galwan standoffs. The airline on Saturday said that it will resume regular passenger services on the Guangzhou-New Delhi route starting September 21, reported Global Times. Following the restart, the airline will run over 100 weekly flights across its eight round-trip routes in South Asia, the carrier said. Earlier this year, Air India resumed New Delhi-China flights from February 2026, nearly six years after the suspension. The move followed the resumption of flights by China Eastern Airlines, which restarted its direct service between Kunming and Kolkata on April 18. Earlier on March 30, IndiGo commenced its inaugural daily, nonstop service between Kolkata and Shanghai, marking another significant milestone in strengthening air connectivity between India and the People’s Republic of China.
