More than 5 lakh passengers fly between India and China annually via other routes. Now discussions are going on again between the two countries for direct flights, which will benefit the passengers of both the countries. From China’s point of view, there has been a decline of up to 76 percent in flights between America and China. India can now gain a larger market share compared to the period of Air India’s weakness before the global pandemic.
The aviation markets of India and China have been quite restrictive from the beginning. But with the onset of the global pandemic in the beginning of 2020, direct flight services between India and China were stopped, which are still closed. According to OAG, a global data company for the aviation industry, the frequency of flights between India and China reached an all-time high in 2019 with 2,588 flights. It was dominated by two aviation companies, China Southern and China Eastern, which controlled more than 80 percent of the total market. But after the global pandemic and border skirmishes, there was a huge decline in it and during the year 2024, only 6 flights remained in the entire year.
But with the recent talks between the two governments to resolve the ongoing border issues, there is once again a possibility of starting direct flights between the two countries. This is happening at a time when the number of flights between China and America has declined rapidly. According to the OAG, there were 10,400 flights between the two countries in 2019, which have now come down to 2,500 annually under the current bilateral agreement. That means there has been a huge decline of about 76 percent. Due to the large fleet and increasing geopolitical tension between America and China, China is thinking of turning to other countries to compensate for this huge decline.
Of course, this is also because the air market of China and India is attractive for both the countries. OAG estimates that around 5.20 lakh passengers travel to these two countries through other routes every year since direct flight services were disrupted. Since the closure of direct flights in 2020, passengers now travel via Hong Kong, Bangkok and even Singapore. In the year 2019, more than 8.90 lakh passengers traveled between the two countries by direct flights. According to data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), this was the year with the highest figures. There were no direct passenger commercial flights between the two countries in the year 2024. This makes it clear that Indian aviation companies, which recently ordered 1,800 aircraft, are definitely looking to expand their market.
First Published – April 25, 2025 | 10:44 PM IST
related posts
