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China and India have agreed to resume direct commercial flights for the first time in five years, in the latest sign of warming relations between the world’s two most populous countries.

Flights between India and mainland China were suspended at the onset of the Covid pandemic in early 2020, and remained halted following subsequent political tensions.

The announcement on Monday came as India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

In a statement, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said the two countries had reached a consensus “in principle to resume direct air services,” with officials expected to hammer out details “at an early date.”

Confirming the development, China’s Foreign Ministry also said it had agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar in western Tibet to Indian pilgrims this year.

The two destinations are considered sacred in the Hindu, Buddhist, Jain and Bon faiths and are popular pilgrimage sites.

Behind the scenes

Months after flights were suspended due to the pandemic, soldiers from the two countries fought a bloody hand-to-hand battle at their disputed border high in the Himalayas, in which at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.

Both India and China maintain a significant military presence along their 2,100-mile (3,379-kilometer) de facto border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which has never been clearly defined and has remained a source of friction since a war between the two countries in 1962.

The June 2020 clash was followed by a process of disengagement and border talks, including an agreement on military patrolling. But points of friction have remained in other areas.

The two countries have sought to further ease tensions in recent months, following a rare meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Russia this past October.

Currently, there are direct passenger flights between several Indian cities and Hong Kong, but not mainland China.

Tourists look forward

The news of the agreement to resume commercial flights prompted some to share their enthusiasm on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

One Chinese netizen said he had bought a flight ticket to India in February 2020 — during the early days of the pandemic. But just before he was due to depart, both his flight and visa were canceled, he said.

India suspended all tourist visas early into the pandemic in a bid to halt the spread of Covid-19.

“The wait lasted for five years… Must go to India,” he wrote in a post on Monday.

Another Chinese netizen said he hoped to attend the Indian festival of Holi, also known as the festival of colors, which involves people donning simple, inexpensive clothes and taking to the streets to smear each other with colored powder and engage in mass water fights.

“Is there a chance to make it to Holi in March?” he wondered.

Passengers were previously able to travel directly between Beijing and New Delhi within seven hours. Presently, those wishing to travel between the two capitals are required to transit at destinations such as Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur adding between six and 10 hours to the journey.

Anayat Ali, an Indian PhD student in Shanghai told CNN he “welcomed the news enthusiastically.”

Ali said he and other Indian students in China were sick of the long layovers and high ticket prices every time they wanted to return home.

“With direct flights, I can visit family more frequently, reduce expenses and avoid the stress of layovers,” he said.

Chinese authorities and airlines had been asking India’s civil aviation authorities to re-establish direct flights, but New Delhi had resisted the calls, Reuters reported last June.

But the drawn-out negotiations have prompted some on Weibo to express doubts about the possibility of visiting India anytime soon.

“It’s an agreement in principle,” one of them noted on Monday.

JSX’s 30-seat Embraer 135 takes guests from a number of cities to Las Vegas. Public charter carriers such as JSX will have to screen passengers like standard commercial airlines under new rules put forward by TSA. Photo Credit: Courtesy of JSX

Public charter carriers such as JSX will have to screen passengers like standard commercial airlines under new rules put forward by TSA.

The procedures could also apply to public charter operators Contour and Aero. They could also apply to SkyWest if it ultimately goes forward with a plan to operate commuter flights under its own brand using public air charter authority.

“TSA, in close consultation with DOT and FAA, determined this program change to be a prudent step in addressing potential aviation security risks,” the agency said in a statement. 

Under the change, public charter operators will have to screen passengers in accordance with Persons and Accessible Property screening requirements already in place at TSA checkpoints for standard commercial air travel.

Public charter model grows

Public air charters have grown as a business model in recent years, led by JSX, which now flies to 25 airports. JSX, Aero and others fly out of private terminals, but with regular schedules, enabling them to offer flyers the convenience of arriving at airports less than 30 minutes before a flight.

Public charters must limit their flights to no more than 30 passengers, but while subject to TSA oversight, up to now they haven’t been subject to standard TSA screening. 

The TSA said that to accommodate the new requirements, it is providing impacted operators with an implementation timeline to train staff, procure equipment and engage affected airports on any new requirements for flights.

New TSA rules take effect in six months

The new rules were first reported by the newsletter Private Jet Card Comparisons. They’ll take effect in six months, Private Jet Card said, citing an email that the National Air Transportation Association, a general aviation trade group, sent to its members. 

The rules won’t impact scheduled operators who utilize planes with less than 10 seats, such as Tradewind Aviation. 

In a statement, JSX said it supports and cooperates with TSA on security measures for public charter flights. 

“JSX is proud of its outstanding security record and has modeled an industry-leading approach to aviation security for nearly eight years, having voluntarily invested millions of dollars into its comprehensive security program since inception,” the company said. 

In a late 2023 op-ed for Travel Weekly, JSX CEO Alex Wilcox said that the carrier’s security protocols greatly exceed TSA requirements. 

“We conduct explosive trace and weapons detection on every bag and customer using state-of-the-art technology. A secondary positive ID match is conducted at boarding. Our flight deck doors are armored,” he said. 

The new TSA rules are part of a broader look that regulators are taking toward public charters. The FAA is also moving ahead with regulations that would require public air charters to operate under the pilot training rules as commercial airlines as well as imposing the same mandatory retirement age of 65.

In the fourth quarter, United said premium revenue was up 10%, corporate revenue was up 7% and revenue from basic economy was up 20% year over year. Photo Credit: United Airlines

During United Airlines’ Q4 earnings call, CEO Scott Kirby said its strategic changes made after the Covid-19 pandemic were successful and have the potential to be long-lasting.

Those moves include increased international service, selling more basic economy seats on domestic routes and growing capacity in the U.S. by flying larger aircraft — a plan that will continue through the end of this decade as United takes delivery of more Airbus A321neos.

“Our outlook has always been based on a realistic view of how the economics of the industry were going to change and how those changes had the potential to drive structural, permanent and irreversible changes in the entire industry,” Kirby said. “Our 2024 plan developed from that vision, and our results were the culmination of years of thoughtful planning, bold action and strategic investment.”

For a couple of years now, Kirby has been talking about the financial challenges that low-cost carriers face, including the high demand for premium seats since the pandemic, a big advantage for United over the LCCs. Further, United’s high investment in its hubs and increased sales of basic economy fares have struck a blow against LCCs. A permanent one, according to Kirby, who said budget airlines can’t operate profitably in United’s hubs. 

Kirby added that budget airlines “will always be able to be more profitable than United in point-to-point, low-cost airports.” 

“It really is a transformed industry, and United more than anyone is leading the way,” Kirby said. “We have seven great hubs. We got well ahead of the curve in investing for the future, and we’re focusing all of our efforts and growth in our hubs, where we have the competitive advantage. The combined virtues of our size and our innovative culture make us a competitive juggernaut.”

International flying soars

Chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella said United’s plan during the pandemic was to “double down on international flying, and it’s proven to be the right move.” 

“United’s international capacity was clearly the star of the quarter in terms of growth in revenue per available seat mile (RASM) relative to Q3. As a result, international margins continued to outpace domestic margins in 2024,” Nocella said. 

Breaking down the regions, Q4 passenger revenue was up 9.5% for Europe, 6.8% for Atlantic, 11.2% for Pacific and 9.5% for Latin America. Middle East/India/Africa was down 11%.

The best Thanksgiving ever

In the fourth quarter, United said premium revenue was up 10%, corporate revenue was up 7% and revenue from basic economy was up 20% year over year. Nocella said the Sunday after Thanksgiving was United’s best revenue day in history, shattering the former record by 25%. 

United’s Q4 revenue was $14.7 billion, a 7.8% increase. Net income was $985 million for the quarter, $3.15 billion for all of 2024. 

Kirby thanked employees for the company’s performance and said United will pay out $713 million in profit sharing as a result.

It’s been a slow road to profitability for low-cost carrier Breeze Airways since launching service in May 2021. But after announcing on Jan. 23 that the fourth quarter of 2024 brought its first quarterly operating profit, CEO David Neeleman is confident that the airline has turned a corner.

David Neeleman

“There’s a lot of momentum going on,” he said, before predicting that Breeze will be profitable for full-year 2025. 

The airline said it compiled more than $200 million in revenue in the fourth quarter, driving an operating margin of over 4%, though it didn’t give a specific profit figure (it will eventually report that number to the Department of Transportation). 

In an interview, Neeleman described its operating profit as “pretty significant.”

• Preview 2025: David Neeleman’s outlook 

Even the barest of profits would be a major stride for Breeze, which reported a negative operating margin of 20.9% in the third quarter of last year and a loss of$33.6 million. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Breeze had an operating margin of minus-25.9%.

Breeze’s improved performance, Neeleman said, has been aided by a strong industry backdrop in recent months, including rising airfares. 

Breeze is also well positioned to capitalize on the trending consumer preference toward high-end fare products. On each of its 33 Airbus A220s, which now do a majority of its flying, Breeze has 12 first-class seats and 45 extra-legroom seats to go along with 80 standard economy seats. 

Staying power is also beginning to benefit the airline. 

The carrier grew fast last year, adding 29 destinations, bringing its total to 66. Breeze also boosted its capacity, measured by the number of total seat miles flown, by 52% in 2024.

Still, said Neeleman, the airline has finally come to a point in which it has beenoperating 75% of its routes for at least six months, a state of affairs that has improved consumer awareness and the bottom line. 

Breeze, whose operating model is centered around connecting city pairs that otherwise have no direct service, is especially robust in Charleston, S.C.; Providence, R.I.; Hartford, Conn; and Orlando, among other locations. Because it focuses heavily on small airports with little service from larger competitors, Breeze is now the No. 1 carrier by destinations served in 24 of its 66 markets, the airline said, and is also the sole carrier on 87% of its more than 200 routes. 

Breeze will still grow fast this year, increasing capacity by an estimated 25%, Neeleman said, but will add less than half as many new destinations as it did in 2024, placing more emphasis on bolstering connections and frequencies from existing stations.

• Related: Neeleman says sustainable fuel is ‘nonsense’

Will the Breeze’s climb continue?

Breeze has trailed fellow newbie Avelo Airlines, which also launched service in spring 2021, in terms of reaching profitability. Avelo reported profits the first two quarters of 2024 before taking a loss in the third quarter. 

Aviation analyst Brett Snyder, who pens the Cranky Flier blog, noted that Neeleman has a strong history of founding airlines, including JetBlue, and has been successful at raising funds, but investors will lose patience if losses continue. 

• Related: Are Avelo and Breeze in a turf war?

Neeleman has pointed to regulatory impediments related to pilot training on its A220 planes as well as delivery delays of the A220 fleet as reasons for early economic challenges. 

“This game is all about cash, and you never know when the spigot gets cut off if you can’t make it work,” Snyder said. 

At the end of last year’s third quarter, Breeze had $110.7 million of cash or short-term investments on hand, but Neeleman said it has since amassed additional cash leaving it in a strong position. 

Fiona Kiesel

Two key areas Breeze will work on this year are achieving authority from the FAA to fly commercial international routes and improving its on-time performance. The carrier hopes to fly internationally from midsize markets to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean and potentially Ireland and the British Isles. Hawaii service could also be in the offing, though not in 2025, Neeleman said. 

Last year, Breeze had an on-time performance of 69.6%, according to its internal numbers. Chief guest officer Fiona Kiesel said the carrier has implemented various initiatives in the past six months to improve that number, with an emphasis on turn times. 

Neeleman said Breeze’s march toward profitability has taken at least 18 months longer than he had expected. But he’s optimistic. 

“I’m happy where we are today,” he said.