The airline is also expected to get a second set of permissions to operate direct flights between Mumbai and Shanghai. | Photo credit: PTI
Tata Group-promoted Air India has received regulatory approval to operate direct flights from India to China, industry sources said business line.
According to the sources, the airline has been given permission to launch flights from Delhi to Shanghai.
The airline is also expected to get a second set of permissions to operate direct flights between Mumbai and Shanghai.
“The flights are expected to start in December,” one of the sources said.
“Only after receiving the second set of approvals, a decision will be taken from which hub – Delhi or Mumbai – the flights to Shanghai will be operated.”
Interestingly, the airline operated direct flights from Mumbai to Shanghai five years ago.
Sources, however, pointed out a strong possibility of Air India operating flights from Mumbai to Delhi and then to Shanghai.
Last week, flight services between India and China resumed after a five-year hiatus.
Airline IndiGo became the first Indian airline to resume non-stop flights between India and mainland China. The airline started daily non-stop flights between Kolkata and Guangzhou. Moreover, IndiGo will launch flights between Delhi and Guangzhou from November 10, 2025, further strengthening its presence in this important trade and travel corridor.
business line was the first to report that India’s domestic airlines will launch flights to China in the upcoming winter schedule, with Shanghai and Guangzhou topping their list of destinations.
Meanwhile, the flight services of both Indian and Chinese airlines mark the first concrete steps towards re-entering each other’s markets after a five-year suspension of services.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, airlines from both countries operated direct flights to various destinations including Shanghai, Guangzhou, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. These services were suspended in early 2020 and never resumed, even though flights to Hong Kong resumed. A few months later, the situation was further complicated by the military clashes in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley in mid-2020, leading to a prolonged freeze in direct operations. Nevertheless, a recent high-level political agreement between the two parties has paved the way for the reopening of direct routes.
Industry insiders further said the resumption of flight services will provide a major boost to bilateral trade, tourism and business travel.
Historically, services to China have had healthy occupancy rates, often reaching 90 percent. Moreover, direct flights are expected to help fill revenue leakage to competing international airlines and maintain revenues within the two countries.
Current passenger traffic between India and China is estimated at around one million per year via one-stop connections.
Nevertheless, the introduction of direct flights could potentially increase that figure to almost three million, driven by a strong mix of tourists, students and business travellers.
Published on November 2, 2025
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