Indian National Airways Ltd was an airline based in Delhi, India. [1] The founder of the airline was R. E. Grant Govan, a Delhi based British industrialist who also co-founded the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Cricket Club of India. [2] [3] [4] The airline was formed on the basis of a government airmail contract. [5]
The company was started by Govan Bros Ltd. in May 1933 with a capital of Rs. 3 million. [6] It became the second airline to start operations in India in December 1933, with weekly passenger and freight services from Calcutta to Rangoon and Dhaka. [7] It also started a weekly service between Karachi and Lahore, a feeder service for Imperial Airways. [1] The company then had a fleet made up of light single-engined aircraft. [8] By 1937 the airline had clocked over a million miles and made a slender annual profit. [9]
The airline was awarded another government contract in 1938 under the Empire Air Mail Scheme for carrying first class mail on the Karachi - Lahore and Karachi - Colombo routes for a period of ten years along with Tata Airlines. This was a major boost for aviation in India. As this contract promised a minimum income along with an operating subsidy, the company was able to expand and renovate its fleet. [7] [10] During World War II, all mail contracts were suspended and aircraft put under government disposal. Only spare capacity was allowed for commercial use, which affected the industry on the whole. [7]
It was one of the four major airlines in India at the time of Indian Independence in 1947. [11] Govan Bros Ltd. and all its businesses, including Indian National Airways Ltd, was sold to the Ramkrishna Dalmia led Dalmia Group in 1947 and its name was subsequently changed to Dalmia-Jain Airways. As of 1947, the airline had a fleet of six Vickers Vikings with another nine De Havilland Doves on order. [12] The company also bought some war-surplus Douglas DC-3 aircraft from the United States of America at the end of the war. [13] In 1953, Indian National Airways was nationalised and merged into Indian Airlines. [7]
Imperial Airways was an early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers were typically businessmen or colonial administrators, and most flights carried about 20 passengers or fewer. Accidents were frequent: in the first six years, 32 people died in seven incidents. Imperial Airways never achieved the levels of technological innovation of its competitors and was merged into the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in 1939. BOAC in turn merged with the British European Airways (BEA) in 1974 to form British Airways.
Pakistan International Airlines is an international airline which is the government-owned flag carrier of Pakistan. Its primary hub is Karachi's Jinnah International Airport, while Allama Iqbal International Airport in Lahore and Islamabad International Airport serve as secondary hubs.
Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international services to neighbouring countries in Asia and limited flights to the Middle East and South-East Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after the merger of eight pre-Independence domestic airlines.
Allama Iqbal International Airport is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-largest city of Pakistan. It also serves a large portion of the travellers from the other regions of Punjab province. Originally known as Lahore International Airport, it was renamed after the visionary poet and philosopher Dr. Allama Iqbal, one of the pioneers that led to the creation of Pakistan. The airport has three terminals: the Allama Iqbal terminal, the Hajj terminal and a cargo terminal. The airport is about 15 km from the centre of the city.
In aviation, aircraft ground handling or ground operations defines the servicing of an aircraft while it is on the ground and (usually) parked at a terminal gate of an airport.
Orient Airways Ltd. was an airline established in 1946 with its base in Calcutta, Bengal, British India. The airline shifted operations to the newly independent state of Pakistan in 1947, and was rechristened as Pakistan International Airlines in 1955. It was the first and only Muslim owned airline in British Raj and flew from 1947 to 1955.
East African Airways Corporation, more commonly known as East African Airways, was an airline jointly run by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. It was set up on 1 January 1946, starting operations the same year. The airline was headquartered in the Sadler House in Nairobi, Kenya. The corporation was dissolved in 1977 amid deteriorated relations among the three countries.
Nevill Vintcent OBE DFC was a South African aviator and airline founder. He was the son of Charles Vintcent, a South African cricketer.
Himalayan Aviation was an airline based in India that operated in the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent until its nationalisation and merger into Indian Airlines in 1953. On 20 February 1950, Himalayan Aviation ran the first ever international flight from Nepal, from Gauchar, Nepal, to Calcutta, India.
British Aviation Services Limited (Britavia) was an early post-World War II airline holding company and air transport operator that could trace its roots back to 1946. Its main activities included trooping, inclusive tour (IT) and worldwide passenger and freight charter services. British Aviation Services' first investment in a British independent airline occurred in 1946, when it acquired a minority interest in Silver City Airways. Silver City Airways operated the world's first cross-Channel air ferry service on 13 July 1948. It subsequently became British Aviation Services' biggest operating division. In 1953, British Aviation Services took over the independent airline Air Kruise. The same year, BAS Group also took control of Aquila Airways, the last commercial flying boat operator in the United Kingdom. The completion of these acquisitions by mid-1954 resulted in a reorganisation of the British Aviation Services group, with British Aviation Services Ltd (BAS Group) becoming the group's holding company and Britavia one of its operating subsidiaries. By the late 1950s, BAS Group became Britain's largest independent airline operator. Its numerous operating divisions included Britavia's Hermes Division at Blackbushe Airport and Aquila Airways's Flying Boat Division at Hamble near Southampton. The former concentrated on trooping services and inclusive tours while the latter provided scheduled services to Portugal, the Canary Islands and Italy. In 1962, BAS Group merged with British United Airways (BUA), which by that time had replaced BAS as the UK's largest independent airline operator.
Jinnah International Airport, formerly Drigh Road Airport or Karachi Civil Airport, is Pakistan's busiest international and domestic airport, and handled 7,267,582 passengers in 2017–2018. Located in Karachi, the largest city and commercial capital of Pakistan and capital of the province of Sindh, it is named after Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the statesman founder of Pakistan. It is one of the oldest airports in the world.
Raymond Eustace Grant Govan, CBE was a British industrialist based in Delhi and the first President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India.
Damania Airways was an Indian airline headquartered in Mumbai that operated from 1993 to 1997. It was founded by brothers Parvez and Vispi Damania. Parvez later played a vital role for Sahara India Pariwar in their venture Air Sahara and then went on to become the Executive Director of Kingfisher Airlines. Vispi later became the VP of Finance at Kingfisher Airlines.
Mistri Airways, later known as Indian Overseas Airlines, is a defunct airline, which was based in India.
Deccan Airways Limited was a commercial airline based at Begumpet Airport in the former Hyderabad State. It was owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata Airlines.
Aviation in India can be broadly divided into military and civil aviation. India has an extensive civilian air transportation network and is amongst the fastest-growing aviation markets in the world according to the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Civil aviation in India, the world's third-largest civil aviation market as of 2020, traces its origin back to 1911, when the first commercial civil aviation flight took off from a polo ground in Allahabad carrying mail across the Yamuna river to Naini.
Highland Airways Limited was established in Inverness, Scotland, by Ted Fresson in 1933 to provide passenger and freight air services between the Scottish mainland and the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, and between their islands. The airline was taken over by Scottish Airways, absorbed by British European Airways in 1947.
North Eastern Airways (NEA) was a British airline which operated from 1935 until the outbreak of World War II in 1939. Based initially in Newcastle upon Tyne, it operated routes from Scotland to London in competition with the railways, retaining its independence to the end.
