Kalinga Airlines

Last updated

Kalinga Airlines
Founded1946
Ceased operations1972
Headquarters Calcutta, India
Key people Biju Patnaik
(Founder & Chief Pilot)

Kalinga Airlines was a private airline based in Calcutta, India. It was founded in 1947 by aviator and politician Biju Patnaik, who was also the airline's chief pilot. [1] The airline was nationalised and merged into Indian Airlines in 1953. It restarted operations as a non-scheduled charter operator in 1957 and flew passengers and cargo until 1972.

Contents

History

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik with a Kalinga Airlines Dakota at Biju Patnaik international Airport Naveen Pattnaik and the Kalinga Airlines Dakota.jpg
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik with a Kalinga Airlines Dakota at Biju Patnaik international Airport

In 1947, Biju Patnaik, who used to be a Royal Indian Air Force World War II Spitfire and DC-3 pilot, carried soldiers into Kashmir, landing the first platoon of troops in Srinagar. Kalinga Airlines' DC-3s were also used to drop supplies in Northeast India. [2] In 1953, the airline, along with other seven independent domestic airlines including Deccan Airways, Airways India, Bharat Airways, Himalayan Aviation, Indian National Airways, Air India and Air Services of India were nationalised and merged into the Indian Airlines Corporation.[ citation needed ]

Kalinga Airways restarted operations in December 1957 with the merger of five airlines, Assam Airways, Indamer Airways, Jamair, Kalinga and Darbhanga Aviations with a fleet of 15 DC-3s. [3] Since May 1960, Kalinga specialised in supply drops in the Northeast. Non-scheduled operations from Bombay to Dubai were also operated but were suspended in October 1962 to focus on supply dropping. [4] The air-drop operations were taken over by the Indian Air Force in June 1967 [5] and the airline reverted to passenger and cargo charters until February 1972. [6]

Incidents and accidents

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Iran Air</span> Flag carrier of Iran

Iran Air, officially known as The Airline of the Islamic Republic of Iran, or before known as The National Airline of Iran, is the flag carrier of Iran, which is headquartered at Mehrabad Airport in Tehran. As of 2024, it operates scheduled services to 72 destinations in Asia and Europe. Iran Air's main bases are Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport, both serving Tehran, the capital of Iran. Domestically, Iran Air is commonly known as Homa, which is the name of a mythical Persian phoenix or griffin, and also the acronym of Iran National Airlines in the Persian language. The airline's cargo division, Iran Air Cargo, operates scheduled services internationally using one cargo aircraft.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Douglas C-47 Skytrain</span> Military transport aircraft derived from DC-3

The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troop transport, cargo, paratrooper, for towing gliders and military cargo parachute drops. The C-47 remained in front-line service with various military operators for many years. It was produced in approximately triple the numbers as the larger, much heavier payload Curtiss C-46 Commando, which filled a similar role for the U.S. military.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Airlines</span> Defunct airline of India (1953–2011)

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 Southeast Asia. It was a division of Air India Limited after the merger of eight pre-Independence domestic airlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China National Aviation Corporation</span> Chinese airline until 1949

The China National Aviation Corporation was a Chinese airline which was nationalized after the Chinese Communist Party took control in 1949, and merged into the People's Aviation Company of China (中國人民航空公司) in 1952. It was a major airline under the Nationalist government of China until the 90s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overseas National Airways</span> US charter airline (1946–1978)

The original Overseas National Airways Inc (ONA) was an American airline, formed in June 1950 as a supplemental air carrier. It ceased operations on September 14, 1978. The airline started as Air Travel in 1946 and was renamed Calasia Air Transport the same year. The name changed to Overseas National in 1950 when it became a supplemental air carrier.

PT Merpati Nusantara Airlines, operated as Merpati Nusantara Airlines, was an airline in Indonesia based in Central Jakarta, Jakarta. It operated scheduled domestic services to more than 25 destinations in Indonesia, as well as scheduled international services to East Timor and Malaysia. The word merpati is Indonesian for "dove", and Nusantara is a Javanese word found in the Pararaton meaning "the outer islands", referring to the Indonesian archipelago. The airline was based at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, Jakarta. It also maintained both a maintenance and simulator facility at Juanda International Airport, Surabaya. The Merpati Training Centre at Surabaya housed Fokker F-27, AVIC MA60 and CN-235 full motion simulators.

Aviateca S.A. branded Avianca Guatemala is a regional airline headquartered in Guatemala City. Aviateca was under government ownership and remained so until 1989 when it joined the Grupo TACA alliance of Central America and was privatized. It was fully integrated into TACA, operating under the TACA Regional banner, which later merged with Avianca.

Spantax S.A. was a former Spanish leisure airline headquartered in Madrid that operated from 6 October 1959 to 29 March 1988. Spantax was one of the first Spanish airlines to operate tourist charter flights between European and North American cities and popular Spanish holiday destinations and was considered a major force in developing 20th-century mass tourism in Spain. Its popularity and image faded from the 1970s onward when a series of crashes and incidents revealed safety deficits, which, combined with rising fuel costs and increasing competition, resulted in the company facing severe financial difficulties that led to its demise in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo Airways</span> Airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada

Buffalo Airways is a family-run airline based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, established in 1970. Buffalo Airways was launched by Bob Gauchie and later sold to one of his pilots, Joe McBryan. It operates charter passenger, charter cargo, firefighting, and fuel services, and formerly operated scheduled passenger service. Its main base is at Yellowknife Airport. It has two other bases at Hay River/Merlyn Carter Airport and Red Deer Regional Airport. The Red Deer base is the main storage and maintenance facility. The airline is also the subject of the History television reality series Ice Pilots NWT.

Jamair was a privately owned airline based in Calcutta, India. It provided both scheduled and non-scheduled charter services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deccan Airways</span> Defunct airline based in Hyderabad, India

Deccan Airways Limited was a commercial airline based at Begumpet Airport in the former Hyderabad State in India. It was owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata Airlines.

References

  1. John F. Burns (21 April 1997). "Biju Patnaik, 81, Daring Pilot-Patriot of India". New York Times.
  2. "Biju Patnaik".
  3. "World Airline Directory, Flight, April 18, 1958".
  4. "World Airline Directory, Flight, April 2, 1964".
  5. "World Airline Survey, Flight, April 11, 1968".
  6. "World Airline Directory". Flight. 2 April 1964.
  7. Aviation Safety Network > ASN Aviation Safety Database > Operator index > India > Kalinga Airlines. Aviation-safety.net (2012-03-04). Retrieved on 2014-05-21.
  8. Did it come with a bang then? Nepal's early aviation history. [ dead link ]