On 9 November 2025 China Eastern Airlines operated its first nonstop passenger flight between Shanghai Pudong (PVG) and Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (DEL) since 2020, re-establishing a key air bridge between the Chinese mainland and India. Flight MU563 departed Pudong at 13:02 with 248 passengers—an impressive 95 percent load factor—and will now run three times weekly using Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft.
The resumption follows IndiGo’s late-October launch of Kolkata–Guangzhou services and signals a cautious thaw in bilateral aviation relations that froze during the pandemic amid broader geopolitical tensions. China Eastern has also outlined plans to revive Kunming–Kolkata and add Shanghai–Mumbai in 2026, suggesting confidence in pent-up business, student and visiting-friends-and-relatives demand.
![China Eastern Restarts Shanghai–Delhi Flights After Five-Year Hiatus]()
For corporate travel managers the route cuts journey times by up to four hours versus one-stop options in Bangkok or Singapore and eliminates transit-visa complications. Shanghai hosts more than 700 Indian company regional headquarters, while Delhi is a critical hub for Chinese telecoms and infrastructure firms working in North India. Analysts at OAG expect yields to stabilise quickly as premium-class demand returns, encouraging authorities to approve additional frequencies next summer.
Travellers should note that Indian nationals transiting through PVG now qualify for China’s 24-hour visa-free zone and will soon be able to complete digital arrival cards when China’s online entry-form system goes live on 20 November. Mobility teams are advised to lock in negotiated corporate fares early and monitor slot-allocation bulletins from both the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
The resumption follows IndiGo’s late-October launch of Kolkata–Guangzhou services and signals a cautious thaw in bilateral aviation relations that froze during the pandemic amid broader geopolitical tensions. China Eastern has also outlined plans to revive Kunming–Kolkata and add Shanghai–Mumbai in 2026, suggesting confidence in pent-up business, student and visiting-friends-and-relatives demand.
For corporate travel managers the route cuts journey times by up to four hours versus one-stop options in Bangkok or Singapore and eliminates transit-visa complications. Shanghai hosts more than 700 Indian company regional headquarters, while Delhi is a critical hub for Chinese telecoms and infrastructure firms working in North India. Analysts at OAG expect yields to stabilise quickly as premium-class demand returns, encouraging authorities to approve additional frequencies next summer.
Travellers should note that Indian nationals transiting through PVG now qualify for China’s 24-hour visa-free zone and will soon be able to complete digital arrival cards when China’s online entry-form system goes live on 20 November. Mobility teams are advised to lock in negotiated corporate fares early and monitor slot-allocation bulletins from both the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) and India’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).
