(MENAFN- AzerNews) At 13:02 pm on Sunday, China Eastern Airlines flight MU563, carrying 248 passengers, departed from Shanghai Pudong International Airport bound for Delhi, India, Azernews reports, citing Global Times.

China Eastern becomes the first Chinese mainland-based airline in 2025 to resume direct passenger flights between China and India. The outbound flight achieved a load factor of over 95 percent.

The resumed Shanghai Pudong-Delhi route is operated by Airbus A330 wide-body aircraft, with three flights per week on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

China Eastern said it plans to increase flight frequency based on market feedback and also aims to resume the Kunming-Kolkata route and launch a new Shanghai Pudong-Mumbai route, further expanding the air network between China and India.

This route connects Shanghai and Delhi, India, serving as one of the most strategically important air corridors between the two countries. As key economic centers, the close connection between Shanghai and Delhi will help promote comprehensive exchanges in trade, economy, culture, and other fields, the airline said.

On October 26, after a five-year hiatus, flights between Chinese mainland and India resumed as an aircraft from Indian airline IndiGo landed at Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province.

IndiGo was one of the first airlines to reinstate flights between the two and is now planning to expand its services with more direct routes. The airline has announced a second daily direct connection between Delhi and Guangzhou, scheduled to commence on November 10. This new route will be operated using IndiGo's A320 aircraft.

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