New links between India and China
Hainan Airlines connects Changchun and Hong Kong
New links between India and China
Hainan Airlines connects Changchun and Hong Kong
November 19th, 2025. Air India has opened reservations for its first direct flight to mainland China in almost six years. The service, linking Delhi and Shanghai, will take off on February 1st next year. It will operate for times a week on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays.
“The resumption of our Delhi-Shanghai services is more than a route launch. It is a bridge between two great, ancient civilisations and modern economic powerhouses,” said the airline’s CEO Campbell Wilson, “At Air India, we are happy to reconnect one of the world’s most vital air corridors, enabling travellers to pursue opportunities in business, trade, healthcare, education and culture with the comfort and warm Indian hospitality that define Air India.”
Flight number AI352 will depart from Indira Gandhi International Airport at 12:00 and arrive at Shanghai’s Pudong International Airport at 20:20. The return leg, flight number AI351, will leave Shanghai at 22:00 and arrive back in Delhi at 03:15 the next morning.
The outbound flight will be a little under six hours, and the return will be about seven hours and forty-five minutes. The route will be served by Boeing 787-800 aircraft.
Air India is also planning to launch services between Mumbai and Delhi in 2026.
Changchun to Hong Kong
Hainan Airlines is launching a service to connect Changchun, in China’s northeastern province of Jilin, with Hong Kong. The service will commence on December 16th and operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
Flight number HU 7915 will take off from Changchun’s Longjia International Airport at 15:35 and will touch down at Hong Kong International Airport at 20:30. In the opposite direction, flight number HU7916 will leave Hong Kong at 10:15 and arrive in Changchun at 14:35.
The airline will deploy a Boeing 737-800 for the route. The southbound flight will take about five hours, and around four and a half hours for the return.
Picture: Shanghai Skyline by Gerd Eichmann via Wikimedia Commons
Air India website
Hainan Airlines website
Related: India-China flights re-established