India-China flights: IndiGo ready to resume service to Beijing, says CEO Pieter Elbers; airline awaits 'bilateral arrangements'
NEW DELHI:
IndiGo
has said it is ready to resume direct flights between India and China, as both countries move closer to finalizing bilateral arrangements, CEO Pieter Elbers said on Wednesday.
"The airline stands ready to resume these services as soon as bilateral arrangements between the two countries allow," Elbers said, as quoted by PTI, adding that IndiGo, guided by its entrepreneurial spirit, remains committed to identifying and pursuing commercially viable opportunities.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, IndiGo operated daily flights from Delhi to Chengdu until February 6, 2020, and from Kolkata to Guangzhou until February 1, 2020.
Both Indian and Chinese carriers had offered direct services between the two nations.
The flights were suspended following the outbreak of COVID-19 and remained halted due to tensions along the eastern Ladakh border.
Air India
's direct flights from Delhi to Shanghai were also suspended in early 2020.
Sources said on Tuesday that India and China are in an "advanced stage" of negotiations to resume direct flights soon, reported PTI.
Earlier this year, on January 27, the two countries had agreed in principle to restart direct air services as part of efforts to "stabilise and rebuild" bilateral ties.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hindustan Times
21 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Kalyan Chaubey adds twist to ISL return plans: ‘Leave no stone unturned', but timeline still under cloud
The future of Indian football has been placed in great jeopardy in recent weeks, with the domestic season suspended as the All India Football Federation races to try and renew the investment and marketing contracts signed during the Indian Super League's inception in 2010. Kalyan Chaubey during a press conference for the AIFF.(HT_PRINT) However, with plenty of fears surrounding the state of Indian football, AIFF president Kalyan Chaubey finally had some good news to share. In a conversation with Revssportz, Chaubey revealed that positive progress has been made, and provided a rough timeline for when some concrete movement might be seen. 'Detailed discussions took place about every aspect, which comprised of five major points,' explained Chaubey. 'I would like to infer that ISL should happen and I am hopeful about that.' 'Major issues are that the marketing [deals] that got signed in 2010 have to be renewed in 2025 and another constitutional case from 2017 is about to get its judgement in 2025 – these two coinciding has given rise to the uncertainty of the league,' explained Chaubey regarding the roadblocks. '2.5 to 3 months to resolve…' 'In spite of these hurdles, India being a country where football is so popular, I would say AIFF would leave no stone unturned to take measures for making this league possible,' he said. Further, he went on to state that there is a window in mind for the ISL, with an attempt being made to bring football to the country while that process takes place. 'As an alternative, we are thinking if we can bring the Super Cup ahead of ISL, which usually takes place after the (ISL) season,' he explained. 'So, in case these matters take time to resolve, which is approximately two and a half to three months, then we can still have the league till 31st of May which is usually the end of the season.' The ISL is currently suspended, which in conjunction with the national men's team's poor run of form has caused a crisis of confidence in the workings of the AIFF and domestic football. However, when quizzed about how to rectify these issues, Chaubey remained staunch that investment and a long-term roadmap are integral. 'The league's marketing rights are getting over this year, and for overall growth, investors are required, a long-term development plan and a clarity for the next 15-20 years is required,' concluded the AIFF president.
Indian Express
23 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Top 10 AI companies in the world: See who's winning the race between Sam Altman, Elon Musk and other tech giants
Top 10 AI companies in the world Forbes: Artificial intelligence isn't slowing down, it is only growing bigger, bolder, and more embedded in the way modern businesses operate. More than two years after ChatGPT took the world by storm, AI remains a top priority for venture capitalists and tech leaders. But the conversation has shifted: instead of only racing to build the most powerful AI models, many startups are focusing on real-world applications—tools that save time, cut repetitive work, and make tasks easier across sectors like engineering, healthcare, legal services, and sales. This shift is reflected in Forbes' seventh annual AI 50 list, created in partnership with Sequoia and Meritech Capital, which spotlights the most promising privately-owned AI companies worldwide—from established giants to rising newcomers.. Newcomers to the list include Anysphere—better known as Cursor—a three-year-old AI coding assistant valued at $2.5 billion and generating over $100 million in annual revenue. Speak, an AI-powered language tutoring app worth $1 billion, serves around 10 million learners of English and Spanish. Massachusetts-based OpenEvidence, another unicorn, offers an AI-driven medical search tool that distils complex information into concise summaries for doctors. While rising startups are making waves, AI model-building heavyweights still dominate the top tier. OpenAI and Anthropic—two of the sector's most well-funded players—have raised a combined $81 billion, more than half of the total $142.45 billion secured by this year's AI 50 companies. But the race is intensifying: Elon Musk's xAI has raised $12.1 billion; former OpenAI CTO Mira Murati is launching Thinking Machine Labs, aiming for $1 billion at a $9 billion valuation; and AI pioneer Fei-Fei Li, dubbed the 'godmother of AI,' has entered the fray with World Labs, backed by $291.5 million to build systems that interpret physical spaces. On the enterprise side, Writer has secured $326 million to develop proprietary AI models for corporate tasks like drafting marketing blogs or combing through large document archives. Powering all of these AI dreams are the often-overlooked infrastructure providers. AI companies need huge amounts of computing power, expensive chips, and energy-intensive data centers to train and run their systems. That demand has boosted companies like Crusoe ($2.8 billion valuation), Lambda ($2.5 billion), and Together AI ($3.3 billion), all working to supply the raw computing power AI development requires. Some startups are proving that AI model training doesn't have to burn through endless amounts of money. Chinese company DeepSeek is an example, it's shown that building powerful models can be done more cost-efficiently. While it isn't on the AI 50 list this year due to unclear details about its funding, revenue, and operations, DeepSeek represents a growing group of Chinese AI companies that are becoming serious contenders in the global AI race. From billion-dollar app startups to massive model-makers and the infrastructure that powers them, AI's ecosystem has never been more varied, or more competitive. And if this year's AI 50 list is anything to go by, the race is shifting from who can build the biggest model to who can build the most useful AI for real-world needs. Source: Forbes
The Hindu
23 minutes ago
- The Hindu
FICCI to organise meetings in Coimbatore, Tiruppur on opportunities in the UAE
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF Zone) will organise a special series of Business to Business meetings in Coimbatore and Tiruppur on August 18 and 19 under the theme 'Expand Your Business in International Markets through UAE.' The meetings in Coimbatore will be held on August 18 and 19 at Radisson Blu, in association with the Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (CODISSIA), the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Coimbatore, the Southern India Mills Association (SIMA), the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers' Association (SIEMA) and the Indian Texpreneurs Federation (ITF). The Tiruppur edition will be held on August 20 at Fortune Park Hotel, in association with the Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA). A press release said the aim is to create awareness among businesses in Tamil Nadu about the strategic advantages of expanding operations to the UAE, especially through SAIF Zone. The meetings will focus on sectors such as textiles and apparel, engineering goods, auto components, food processing, renewable energy, ceramics, and agro-equipment. Representatives from SAIF Zone will engage directly with Indian companies to discuss investment opportunities, operational support, and the ease of establishing businesses in the UAE. Participants will also gain insights into leveraging the India–UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), which offers duty-free access and regulatory facilitation for over 97% of Indian goods exported to the UAE. Participants need to register in advance, the release said.
