Air India

The first full year of operations for Tata Airlines (which would later become Air India) was in 1933. They flew 160,000 miles and carried 10.71 tons of mail and 155 passengers. For a few years, Tata Airlines relied on its mail contract with the Government of India for their revenue. Tata Airlines started two services a week on the Karachi-Chennai route. That was in 1934 and the next year they added a weekly service between Mumbai and Trivandrum . More flights were added and frequencies increased. In 1938, Tata Airlines received a ten-year contract to carry first class mail on the Karachi-Colombo and Karachi-Lahore routes.

During the war, the government took control of the bigger fleets of DH-89. They were left with smaller aircraft. However at some point some Beachcraft Expeditors and DC-2’s were loaned to them. The US surplus property authorities allotted four surplus DC-3s to the airline. In 1946, Tata Airlines became a Public Limited Company. It was then that they were renamed Air India.

Air India began looking at the international scene in 1947. The government granted permission to them to operate international services towards the year’s end. On March 8, 1948, Air-India International, which was registered. They started out slowly with international services by offering a service Mumbai to London via Cairo and Geneva once a week.

The financial condition of airlines in India was poor in the early 1950’s. The government therefore nationalized the air transport industry. Two new corporations were established. Eight domestic airlines were merged to form Indian Airlines. Air-India International would operate overseas services. Air India entered the jet age in the 1960 with the first Boeing 707. They were then able to extend its Mumbai-London service to New York. At this point Air India began their expansion into many new routes and markets.

Next Air India expanded their services to many cities in the Gulf Area. There are now more than several services between India and the Gulf every week. Later in the 70’more services to Africa were introduced. The 1980’s saw a time of fleet renewal with many purchases of new aircraft. IN 1990 Air-India completed evacuation of stranded Indian nationals from the Gulf. Along with several other airlines they operated 488 special flights to airlift 1,11,711 stranded Indian nationals.

Air India continues to add new routes to their services. Today they have a worldwide network. Their services include 44 destinations. They serve so many places through their own aircraft as well as cod-share agreements.

If you are planning to travel with Air India or any other airline please keep in mind that a valid travel insurance policy will cover you against unforeseen circumstances.