India in talks with China for alternate air route to cut costs, flying time amid Pak airspace ban
The talks are taking place as India-China ties improve after the tensions caused by the 2020 border standoff. Photograph: (AFP)
Pakistan’s airspace has remained shut to India since the April 2025 Pahalgam attack, and as a result airlines have had to divert some westbound flights over the Arabian Sea, adding to flying time, fuel consumption, and crew costs. The long-haul flights have been among the most affected.
India is holding talks with China in order to explore the possibility of an alternate air route for Indian airlines amid the continuing Pakistan airspace ban that makes flights to Europe and the United States longer and more expensive. The talks are focused on the use of Xinjiang airspace as an alternate route.
Sources said the Ministry of External Affairs is engaging with Chinese counterparts on alternate routes and that talks are on for over a year to route flights via Hotan in western China.
Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s arrival in New Delhi for the BRICS Summit, China Southern Airlines announced that it will resume direct flights between Guangzhou and New Delhi from September 21, restoring a route that had been suspended for six years.
The resumption is part of a broader restoration of direct air links between the two countries after services were disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent tensions along the India-China border.
China Southern said it will operate more than 100 weekly flights across eight round-trip routes in South Asia.
IndiGo was the first Indian airline to resume India-China connectivity. The airline resumed direct India-China flights in October 2025, when it restarted services between Kolkata and Guangzhou, followed by Delhi-Guangzhou in November.
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Air India resumed direct flights between Delhi and Shanghai on February 1, ending a nearly six-year gap in services to China and increasing the frequency to five flights a week from March 29.
Pakistan’s airspace has remained shut to India since April 2025, and as a result airlines have had to divert some westbound flights over the Arabian Sea, adding to flying time, fuel consumption, and crew costs.
The long-haul flights have been among the most affected; consequently, looking for alternative routing options has become an important consideration.
The talks are taking place as India-China ties improve after the tensions caused by the 2020 border standoff.
Speaking at an Asia Society event in New York on Monday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Delhi-Beijing relationship was in a better position than it had been in recent years.
“If you asked me, compared to where you were in 2025, is the relationship better today? I would say yes. Compared to 2024, even more so,” he said.
Jaishankar said the improvement was a recovery from a relationship that had gone “so much off-track”.
