Delhi-Guangzhou flights to resume, says Chinese airline as Xi arrives in India

China Southern Airlines announced the resumption of regular passenger flights on the Guangzhou-New Delhi route from September 21, after a six-year hiatus.

Written by: Divya A, Abhishek Chakraborty

2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Sep 12, 2026 01:16 PM IST

As Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in New Delhi for the BRICS Summit on Saturday, China Southern Airlines announced the resumption of regular passenger flights on the Guangzhou-New Delhi route from September 21, after a six-year hiatus.

The airline said it would operate the Guangzhou-New Delhi service as part of more than 100 weekly flights across eight round-trip routes in South Asia.

The move follows China Eastern Airlines’ resumption of direct flights between Kunming and Kolkata on April 18 and IndiGo starting a nonstop service between Kolkata and Shanghai in March. IndiGo later started another service from Delhi.

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The development comes amid renewed efforts for direct air connectivity between India and China. Direct air services between the two countries had been suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic and tensions after the Doklam and Galwan standoffs. Relations began improving after the border agreement in October 2024.

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The two sides had agreed on several steps towards a thaw following a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi in September 2025. Earlier, they had met in Russia’s Kazan in 2024.

Modi and Xi are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit on Saturday evening. It will be their third meeting since the breakthrough in ties.

Xi, who is expected to remain in New Delhi till Sunday noon, is accompanied by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and Cai Qi, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party’s Political Bureau.

Divya A

Divya A reports on travel, tourism, culture and social issues - not necessarily in that order - for The Indian Express. She's been a journalist for over a decade now, working with Khaleej Times and The Times of India, before settling down at Express. Besides writing/ editing news reports, she indulges her pen to write short stories. As Sanskriti Prabha Dutt Fellow for Excellence in Journalism, she is researching on the lives of the children of sex workers in India. ... Read More

Abhishek Chakraborty

Abhishek Chakraborty is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express in Delhi, working at the intersection of digital-first journalism, editorial decision-making, and audience engagement. He is closely involved in shaping and commissioning stories for the digital platform, with a focus on breaking news, explanatory journalism, and sharp, reader-oriented presentation. His work spans editorial planning, real-time news judgment, headline optimisation, and platform strategy, including search and social distribution. He has a strong interest in the evolution of news consumption in the digital ecosystem. He is particularly interested in how national newsrooms adapt to platform-led distribution models, data-informed editorial choices, and the balance between speed, depth, and credibility in digital-first journalism. His core interest areas are business, science, and political news. Education and interest areas: Abhishek holds a postgraduate degree in Political Science and a graduate degree in Journalism. His academic grounding informs his reportage and editing, particularly on politics, governance, and public policy. He is interested in the future of digital journalism, newsroom transformation, and the evolving relationship between technology, platforms, and public discourse. Abhishek hails from Assam's Guwahati and is proficient in English, Bengali, Assamese and Hindi. When not in the newsroom, Abhishek can be found exploring food trails around Delhi and Northeast India. In his leisure, Abhishek likes to go on long drives or bike rides, play cricket and games, and explore historical places. Work experience: Abhishek has over 12 years of experience at The Times of India, The Quint, India Today, ABP Network, and now, at The Indian Express. ... Read More

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