A long-awaited daily direct flight service between New Delhi and Guangzhou will begin next month, according to Airline IndiGo, marking a new gesture that analysts say would boost exchanges between the world's two most populous countries.

The airline announced on Saturday that it will have daily direct flights between the Indian capital and the southern Chinese city starting Nov 10, following the resumption of services between Kolkata and Guangzhou on Oct 26.

"The resumption of operations between two of the world's most populous nations presents immense potential for cultural exchange and economic collaboration," Vinay Malhotra, head of global sales at IndiGo, said in a statement.

READ MORE: China, India to resume direct flights this month

"With this launch, IndiGo connects China to its vast domestic and growing international network, via Guangzhou. We are confident that this will contribute toward the acceleration of opportunities in trade, investment, tourism, and even education between the two countries, while reinforcing our commitment to connect India to the world."

The airline will operate Airbus A320 aircraft on the route, with tickets now available on the IndiGo website.

National carrier Air India also plans to launch direct flights between New Delhi and Shanghai before the end of the year, a senior official said. Before the pandemic, the airline operated four nonstop weekly services from Shanghai to New Delhi, and onward to Mumbai.

Earlier this month, India's Ministry of External Affairs said the resumption of direct flights between the two countries reflects improving bilateral ties.

"This is, of course, in line with the growing trend toward normalization in the relationship between India and China," ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said at a media briefing.

Common understandings

Guo Jiakun, spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, said at a news conference on Thursday that the restart of direct flights is the latest move that demonstrates how the two sides faithfully act on the important common understandings reached between their leaders on Aug 31. It is also an active move that facilitates the friendly exchanges of more than 2.8 billion Chinese and Indian people.

China stands ready to work with India to view and handle bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, be friends enjoying good-neighborliness and partners helping each other succeed, and realize a cooperative pas de deux of the dragon and the elephant to deliver more tangibly for the two peoples and make due contributions to upholding peace and prosperity in Asia and beyond, Guo said.

Indian students in China, traders, tourists and experts have welcomed the launch of new direct flights, saying it will facilitate travel, trade, tourism, as well as cultural and academic exchanges.

"It's a diplomatic and economic milestone," said Shanky Chandra, head of the Department of Chinese Studies at Doon University in Uttarakhand state. "It's more than an economic decision — a symbolic gesture of thawing ties and recognition of mutual dependency."

Chandra recalled taking a direct Air China flight from New Delhi to Beijing in 2019, which took just over five hours. Since 2020, however, there have been no direct air links between the two countries. When he traveled to the Chinese mainland in 2024, he had to transit through Hong Kong, paying high fares for a 12-hour journey.

The reopening of this channel offers renewed possibilities for people-to-people exchange, trade facilitation and regional integration, he said.

Before the pandemic, another key route — between Chengdu and Bengaluru — was operated by Indi-Go. Reviving this connection would directly benefit the large Indian student community and strengthen subnational ties between India's tech hub and one of China's major IT centers, said Ishu Jain, an Indian IT professional based in Chengdu.

The writer is a freelance journalist for China Daily.