China Eastern Airlines to expand flight services on Delhi-Shanghai route from Jan 2

Mumbai, Dec 16 (PTI) China Eastern Airlines on Tuesday announced the expansion of its flight services on the Delhi-Shanghai route to daily non-stop from three times a week earlier, starting January 2 next year.

The airline also said it is committed to expanding its footprint in India, going forward, with plans to relaunch Kolkata-Kunming and introduce a new route, Mumbai-Shanghai, in the near future.

During the winter schedule, flight MU564 will depart from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport at 19:55 pm, arriving at Pudong International Airport in Shanghai at 04:10 am the following day, China Eastern Airlines said in a statement.

The return flight MU563 departs from Shanghai at 12:50 pm and lands in Delhi at 17:45 pm, it said.

The rapid expansion, which comes in response to the robust demand and a commitment to strengthening air connectivity between India and China, follows the successful relaunch of the route in November 2025 after a five-year hiatus, it said.

While the route was initially planned for a phased increase from three to five weekly flights, the overwhelming response from both passengers and trade partners has prompted China Eastern to move directly to daily flights, it said.

The flight services between the two countries were suspended following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. They were not restored in view of the over-four-year border face-off in eastern Ladakh, which ended in October last year.

InterGlobe Air Transport, which is the exclusive General Sales Agent (GSA) for China Eastern Airlines in India manages the airline's full commercial and operational functions, including sales, marketing, ticketing, and support.

The airline said it now also offers interline connectivity, allowing travellers to book seamless single-ticket journeys to and from 39 Indian cities via Delhi to Shanghai and onward to destinations across China Eastern's extensive global network.

India-China relations plunged to their lowest point since the 1962 war following the Galwan Valley clashes in June 2020. After a series of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides withdrew their troops from several friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

In October last year, the two sides firmed up a disengagement pact for Depsang and Demchok, the last two friction points.

Days after the agreement was finalised, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in Kazan in Russia and took a number of decisions to improve the ties.

In the last few months, the two sides have taken a series of measures to repair the ties, including the resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and the resumption of flights. PTI IAS MR