Direct flights between Kolkata, Guangzhou to resume today after a gap of more than 5 years

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Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) After a gap of more than five years, direct flights between Kolkata and China’s Guangzhou city will resume on Sunday, with the first flight scheduled to take off from the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport at 10 pm, officials said.

Direct flights between the two countries were operational until early 2020 before being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, following recent diplomatic initiatives, private carrier IndiGo announced that it will resume daily, non-stop flights connecting Kolkata with Guangzhou from October 26.

The turning point came earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit, paving the way for sweeping changes in flight operations.

It was also revealed that China’s state-owned China Eastern Airlines will resume flights between Shanghai and Delhi from November 9, operating three times a week on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

Chinese Embassy in India spokesperson Yu Jing also posted about the development on Twitter.

“Direct flights between China and India are now a reality. Kolkata → Guangzhou starting from today. Shanghai ↔ New Delhi starting from November 9, which will fly thrice a week,” the spokesperson said.

“The first flight is scheduled to depart from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at 10 pm tonight,” an NSCBI airport official said.

It is noteworthy that the city of Kolkata has a centuries-old relationship with China, dating back to the British rule, when Chinese immigrants came to the city as traders. The city’s Chinatown is famous for its expatriate community, many of whom frequently travel to the neighboring country. Direct flights will make it easier for them to travel to China.

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Rajiv Singh, head of the Indian Chamber of Commerce in Kolkata, said, “Direct air connectivity will reduce logistics and transit time. It will also reduce costs. This will benefit trade.”

–IANS

SH/PGH