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India and China have had no direct flights for four years

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Border fighting in 2020 has dogged relations

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Indian, Chinese airlines talking with their govts - IndiGo

CEO

By Krishn Kaushik, Aditi Shah and Lisa Barrington

NEW DELHI/DUBAI, June 20 (Reuters) - China is pressing

India to restart direct passenger flights after a four-year

halt, but New Delhi is resisting as a border dispute continues

to weigh on ties between the world's two most populous

countries, officials said.

India-China relations have been tense since the biggest

military confrontation in decades on their disputed Himalayan

border killed 20 Indian and at least four Chinese soldiers in

June 2020. Thousands of troops remain mobilised on each side.

Since the clash, India has made it difficult for Chinese

companies to invest, banned hundreds of popular apps and severed

passenger routes, although direct cargo flights still operate

between the Asian giants.

Direct flights would benefit both economies, but the stakes

are higher for China, where a recovery in overseas travel after

the COVID-19 pandemic is lagging, while India's aviation sector

booms.

Several times over the past year or so, China's government

and airlines have asked India's civil aviation authorities to

re-establish direct air links, two people with direct knowledge

of the matter told Reuters, with one saying China considers this

a "big issue".

"We hope the Indian side will work with China in the same

direction for the early resumption of direct flights," China's

Foreign Ministry told Reuters in a statement last week, adding

that resuming flights would be in both countries' interests.

But a senior Indian official familiar with India-China

bilateral developments said of Beijing's desire to resume

flights: "Unless there is peace and tranquillity on the border,

the rest of the relationship cannot move forward."

Indian airlines are holding discussions with New Delhi,

while Chinese carriers are talking to their government about

resuming direct routes, CEO Pieter Elbers of Indigo,

India's largest airline, told Reuters.

India's external affairs and civil aviation ministries did

not respond to requests for comment.

Beijing has repeatedly protested India's ramped up scrutiny

of Chinese businesses since 2020. Chinese smartphone giant

Xiaomi told India's government this year that "confidence

building" measures were needed as component suppliers were wary

about setting up in India, citing compliance and visa issues.

'BEYOND OUR LEVEL'

Direct India-China flights peaked in December 2019, with a

total of 539 scheduled flights by the likes of IndiGo, Air

India, China Southern, China Eastern,

Air China and Shandong Airlines, data from aviation

analytics firm Cirium shows.

Chinese carriers scheduled 371 of those flights, more than

double the 168 by India's airlines.

Flights were halted four months later as the pandemic

escalated. Except for a smattering of COVID repatriation

flights, they have not resumed even though India lifted COVID

restrictions on international air routes a year later and China

lifted all COVID travel measures in early 2023.

Travellers must now change planes either in Hong Kong, which

has a separate aviation regulator and border controls from the

rest of China, or in hubs like Dubai or Singapore.

This has lengthened the India-China journey from less than

six hours to upwards of 10, handing business - including

lucrative through traffic to the United States - to carriers

like Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Cathay Pacific

.

The recovery in Chinese overseas travel is lagging due to

rising costs and difficulties in securing visas for the world's

top spenders on international tourism and airlines.

Indigo's Elbers said a recent interview in Dubai, "When the

time is right and the governments come to a mutual understanding

of how to move forward, we'll assess the market."

IndiGo flies seven times a week on the Delhi-Hong Kong

route, where passengers can connect to mainland China.

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson said direct India-China

flights "would seem to be a huge potential market" but for now

there are factors at play "beyond our level".