India-China air travel resumes after 5 years: IndiGo operates Kolkata-Guangzhou flight; first since 2020

KOLKATA: Monica Liu lives and breathes Beijing, the ‘Tangra-style’ Chinese restaurant that is the beating heart of weekends in Kolkata’s Chinatown. But on Sunday night, Guangzhou was on her mind. For the first time in five years, she was on a direct flight from the city she calls home to the country of her ancestors.

Liu was among the first of 176 passengers to board IndiGo’s resurrected Kolkata-Guangzhou flight that bridged the gap in direct air connectivity between India and China, triggered by Covid pandemic and extended by the diplomatic frost following border clashes in 2020.