india china combo flag
India and China have started the process of resuming direct flights, the Hindu BusinessLine, a financial daily, reported on Tuesday.
In January this year the two sides “agreed in principle to resume direct air services between the two countries; the relevant technical authorities on the two sides will meet and negotiate an updated framework for this purpose at an early date,” the statement issued by the Indian Foreign Office during the visit of the Indian Foreign Secretary to Beijing.
The Indian Foreign Office is the same as the State Department in the US, with the Indian Foreign Secretary being the highest-ranking official who has risen through the ranks after clearing a competitive examination to reach the position. The January meeting resulted from an earlier meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Kazan in October last year.
The financial daily report adds that streamlining slot allocation and other procedures has started, without naming the source who indicated that work had started. But given that the direction had come from the top leaders of India and China, it was just a question of time before airlines resumed direct services again.
The direct services were stopped following the Galawan incidents in 2020 between the Armies of both countries, and because of Covid.
Timeline for flights to begin unclear
While it is still unclear when airlines from the countries will start direct flights, almost all Indian airlines have aircraft capable of doing non-stop flights between India and various points in China.
Both the narrowbody aircraft with Akasa, IndiGo, and SpiceJet, as well as the widebody aircraft in the Air India group fleet, will easily be able to do a non-stop flight between various points in India and China. So a narrowbody should have little problem connecting Kolkata in eastern India to Guangzhou. At the same time, a widebody should be able to fly longer distances and connect more destinations with more passengers on board. Air India could operate to Shanghai, a flight suspended in 2020 due to Covid and border tensions.
On 20 October 2019, IndiGo launched its daily flight from Kolkata to Guangzhou, its second destination in China after Chengdu and its 23rd international destination.
Long history of flights between the two neighbours
In early 2000, when Air Sahara was still flying, it was toying with the idea of operating to Guangzhou from India. Air Sahara was finally acquired by Jet Airways, which operated daily flights from Mumbai to Shanghai to San Francisco, starting in 2008.
Views: 217
