China is pressing India to restart direct passenger flights after a four-year halt. Still, New Delhi is resisting as a border dispute continues to weigh on ties between the world's two most populous countries, officials said.
India has made it difficult for Chinese companies to invest, banned hundreds of popular apps, and severed passenger routes, although direct cargo flights still operate between the Asian giants.
Direct flights would benefit both economies, but the stakes are higher for China, where a recovery in overseas travel after the COVID-19 pandemic is lagging, while India's aviation sector booms.
Several times over the past year or so, China's government and airlines have asked India's civil aviation authorities to re-establish direct air links, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters, with one saying China considers this a "big issue".
"We hope the Indian side will work with China in the same direction for the early resumption of direct flights," China's Foreign Ministry told Reuters last week, adding that resuming flights would be in both countries' interests. But a senior Indian official familiar with India-China bilateral developments said of Beijing's desire to resume flights:
Indian airlines are discussing with New Delhi, while Chinese carriers are talking to their government about resuming direct routes, CEO Pieter Elbers of Indigo, India's largest airline, told Reuters.
Travelers must now change planes either in Hong Kong, which has a separate aviation regulator and border controls from the rest of China, or in hubs like Dubai or Singapore.
This has lengthened the India-China journey from less than six hours to upwards of 10, handing business - including lucrative through traffic to the United States - to carriers like Emirates, Singapore Airlines, and Cathay Pacific.
The recovery in Chinese overseas travel is lagging due to rising costs and difficulties in securing visas for the world's top spenders on international tourism and airlines.
IndiGo flies seven times a week on the Delhi-Hong Kong route, where passengers can connect to mainland China.
Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said direct India-China flights "would seem to be a huge potential market" but for now there are factors at play "beyond our level".
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