After a break of over five years, direct flights between Kolkata and China’s Guangzhou city will resume on Sunday, with the first one scheduled to take off at 10 pm from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport, officials said.

Direct flights between the two countries were operational till early 2020 before being suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, following recent diplomatic initiatives, private carrier IndiGo announced it will resume daily, non-stop flights connecting Kolkata to Guangzhou starting from October 26.

The turning point came earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, paving the way for a broader reset in flight operations.