New Delhi: The IndiGo airline on Monday started its daily flight from China’s Shanghai to Kolkata. The move will boost the connectivity by air between India and China, enhancing exchange of people and culture between the two nations. Indian Consulate General in Shanghai, Pratik Mathur, launched the IndiGo6E flight on March 30.
Kolkata-Shanghai very important
The Indian Consulate in Shanghai said in a post on X that Mathur met the IndiGo management team and highlighted the positive momentum. Also, he praised the growing confidence and enthusiasm that the the booming air connectivity and the resurgent economic links between India and the region has bought.
#NewBeginnings💥🌟🌅 #ChaloKolkata 🪷☀️🌞
Consul General @PratikMathur1 was happy to meet the top management team of @Indigo6E team in Shanghai as the direct flight connecting #Shanghai to #Kolkata started operations.
➡️ Underlining the positive momentum, CG appreciated the… pic.twitter.com/mPPKAP7XZB
— India In Shanghai (@IndiaInShanghai) March 30, 2026
Indian airlines like IndiGo and Air India have connecting flights Shanghai with New Delhi and Kolkata. On April 21, Air China will reportedly launch a direct flight between Beijing and New Delhi. According to Mathur, the new air connection will boost the development of Northeastern India. Notably, Kolkata and Shanghai have a strong relation with Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore visiting visited the city thrice in 1913, 1923 and 1931.
Thaw in bilateral ties
Last year in October, India and China resumed flights between different cities after a freeze in the relations for five years. The flight services between the two sides came to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic and the border face-offs in eastern Ladakh did not help the cause. Now, IndiGo operates Kolkata-Guangzhou and Delhi-Guangzhou flights, while Chinese airline China Eastern operates Shanghai-Delhi flights.
In 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met at Kazan in Russia, and then again met on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Tianjin last year, which resulted in the thaw in the bilateral relations between the two nations. India and China have also started several measures to normalise their relations, with New Delhi once again giving tourist visas to Chinese nationals.