Flight Covers

In July 1932 Aviation Department of Tata Sons Ltd. was established. It begun operations with the first Karachi Madras (via Ahmedabad, Bombay and Bellary) mail service to connect with Imperial Airways' London Karachi services. The first flight on October 15, 1932 was operated by a De Havilland Puss Moth VT-ADN flown by J R D Tata, pioneer aviator and industrial tycoon, from Karachi to Bombay and by Nevill Vincent from Bombay to Madras arriving there on October 16.

The Aviation Department of Tata Sons Ltd. became Tata air Services in 1938 and was renamed Tata Airlines in the same year. Tata Air Lines converted into a public company and was renamed Air India Limited. In 1948, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India, and a new entity Air India International was incorporated as designated flag carrier. This was taken over by the Government of India and nationalized on August 1, 1953 becoming India's exclusive airline for external services. Despite the nationalization of the airline, JRD Tata remained in charge of Air India until 1978. On 8 June 1962, the airline's name was officially changed to Air India. Indian Airlines were merged with Air India in 2011.

Air India First Flights

1948 Jun 8
Bombay London
via Cairo, Geneva
 Lockheed Constellation 749


Bombay Cairo
Bombay Geneva
Bombay London
Bombay New York
  Bombay Cairo
Post Office Cover 		Bombay Geneva
Post Office Cover 		Bombay London
Post Office Cover 		Bombay New York
Post Office Cover
1948 Jun 11
London Bombay
via Cairo, Geneva		 1948 Jun 11

London Bombay 		1948 Jun 12

Geneva Bombay
?
Cairo Bombay		  
1950 Jan 21

Bombay Nairobi
via Aden
Bombay Aden
Bombay Nairobi		    
        
1950 Oct 17

Calcutta London
Calcutta London
In Blue
Calcutta London
In Red		    
1953 Mar 1
Dusseldorf Added		  
Dusseldorf - Bombay		    
1954 Jun 19

Bombay London
Super Constellation
Lockheed 1049

   1954 Jul 16

Bombay Singapore
via Madras

  
1954 Aug 14

 

Bombay Hong Kong
Via Calcutta, Bangkok
Bombay Hong Kong
Hong Kong Bombay		   
1955 May 7

Bombay Tokyo
via Calcutta, Bangkok, Hong Kong

  
Calcutta Bangkok
Calcutta Hong Kong
Calcutta Tokyo
1955 Jul 2

Bombay London
via Cairo
First Class Express

        
1955 Sep 4

Singapore Paris		   1956 Apr 4

Rome Prague		 1954 Apr 6

Prague Bombay Delhi		 1956 Oct 4

Rome Sydney
1956 Oct 5

Bombay Sydney
Via Madras, Singapore, Darwin

 Madras Sydney 1956 Oct 8

Sydney London		    
1958 Aug 14

Delhi Moscow

 Moscow Delhi  1958 Oct 11

 

Bombay Jakarta
Via Madras, Singapore

 
1960 Apr 19

Bombay London
Boeing 707

    1960 Apr 21

Rome Bombay
Boeing 707		  
1960 May 14

Bombay New York
Boeing 707

 New York Bombay

Cachet in Violet 		New York Bombay

Cachet in Blue		   New York Bombay

UN Stamps
Cachet in Green
1960 May 20

Rome Bombay
Boeing 707		    1960 May 20

Rome New York		  
1960 Jun 9

Calcutta New York
via Bombay, Cairo, Frankfurt, Rome, London

 Calcutta Bombay Calcutta Cairo Calcutta Rome Calcutta Frankfurt
  Calcutta London Calcutta New York    
1960 Jun 29

 

Bombay Prague

     1960 Jul 3

Geneva Bombay		  
1960 Oct 4

Bombay Bahrain
Via Karachi

     1960 Oct 4

Bombay Kuwait
Via Karachi, Bahrain

  
1961 Jan 25

Bombay Tokyo
Boeing 707

Bombay Calcutta Calcutta Bangkok Calcutta Hong Kong Calcutta Tokyo

Tokyo Bombay		      
1961 May 4

Bombay Nairobi
Boeing 707

1961 May 5

 

Nairobi Bombay

1961 May 5

Prague Bombay
 1961 May 5

Rome Bombay
Non Stop
 1961 May 23

Vienna Bombay
via Rome

       
1962 Apr 5

 

Madras Singapore
Comet 4

 1962 Apr 6

Bombay Moscow
Boeing 707

1962 Apr 7

Moscow Bombay
1962 May 2

Bombay Bahrain
Boeing 707

1962 May 4

Bahrain Bombay
1962 May 7

Bombay Sydney
Boeing 707

1962 May 9

Sydney Bombay
1962 Oct 1

Bombay Perth

 1962 Oct 3

Perth Bombay

 
1962 Oct 15

Karachi Bombay
30th Anniversary Reenactment 		1962 Oct 15

Ahmedabad Bombay Stage
Karachi Bombay
30th Anniversary Reenactment		   1963 Apr 1

Geneva Sydney		  
1964 Aug 3

Bombay Nandi

 1964 Aug 5

Nandi Bombay

1964 Dec 2

Rome Bombay
Pope Paul VI Visit
    
1966 May 5 

Bombay Geneva		 1966 May 23

Bombay Vienna		   1967 Apr 1

Bombay Tehran

 1967 Apr 2

Tehran Bombay
1967 Apr 5

Bombay Brussels

 1967 Apr 5

Brussels Bombay 		1967 Aug 15

Bombay Port Louis

1967 Aug 16

Port Louis  Bombay

 
1967 Aug 18

Bombay Kuala Lumpur

 1967 Aug 20

Kuala Lumpur Bombay 		1968 Oct 29

Kuwait Zurich

 1968 Oct 30

Bombay Addis Ababa

 1968 Oct 27

Addis Ababa Bombay
1968 Oct 31

Bombay Entebbe

1968 Oct 31

Entebbe Bombay 		1969 Apr 2

Bombay Amsterdam

 1969 Apr 2

Amsterdam Bombay		  
1969 Apr 2

Tehran Zurich		 1969 Apr 2

Tehran Zurich		   1969 Jul 2

Bombay Dubai		 1969 Jul 5

Dubai Bombay
1969 Oct 30

Dubai Geneva

 1969 Oct 30

Dubai Geneva		    

 

Geneva Dubai

1969 Nov 6

Geneva Dubai		 1969 Nov 6

Geneva Dubai		 1969 Nov 6

Geneva Dubai
UN Stamps		 1969 Nov 6

Geneva Dubai
UN Stamps		 1969 Nov 6

Geneva Dubai
Liechtenstein Stamps
1970 Oct 1

Bombay Abu Dhabi

 1970 Oct 2

Abu Dhabi Bombay		   1970 Nov 3

Bombay Dhahran

  
1971 May 21

Bombay London
Boeing 747

 1971 May 21

London Bombay 		  1971 May 26

Bombay New York
via London
Boeing 747
Post Office Cover

 1971 May 26


Bombay London
Boeing 747
Post Office Cover
1971 May 21

Bombay Frankfurt
 1972 Feb 4

Dacca London
Via Delhi, Bombay		 1972 Jun 14

Geneva Bombay		    
1972 Nov 2

Bombay Osaka

 1972 Nov 3

Osaka Bombay 		  1972 Nov 3

 

Bombay Lusaka

  
1973 Nov 1

Bombay Doha

 1973 Nov 1

Doha Bombay		   1974 Feb 12

Bombay Muscat

 1974 Feb 12

 

Muscat Bombay

1976 Mar 29

Bombay Sydney
Via Madras, Singapore, Perth

 1976 Mar 30

Sydney Bombay 		  1976 Apr 6

Bombay Baghdad

 1976 Apr 6

Bombay Baghdad
1976 May 30

 

Bombay New York
Via London

 1976 Jun 25

Bombay Victoria

 1976 Jun 26

Victoria Bombay 		1976 Aug 4

Bombay Dubai

 1976 Aug 4

Dubai Bombay
1976 Dec 19

Bombay Lagos

 1976 Dec 20

Lagos Bombay 		  1976 Dec 19

Bombay Accra

 1976 Dec 20

Accra Bombay
1977 Apr 13

Bombay Jeddah

 1977 Apr 13

 

Jeddah Bombay

  1978 Jan 31

 

Trivandrum Dubai

  
1978 Nov 1

Bahrain Bombay
Airbus A300 		  1978 Nov 5

Bahrain Qatar
Airbus A300 		1978 Nov 5

Qatar Bombay
Airbus A300 		 
1978 Nov 16

Bombay
Ras Al Khaymah

 1978 Nov 16

Ras Al Khaymah
Bombay 		     
1980 Jan 1

Delhi Tokyo		 1980 Jan 9

Tokyo Delhi		   1980 Jan 2

Tokyo Calcutta		 1980 Jan 4

Calcutta Tokyo

1980 Jan

Bombay Tokyo		 1980 Jan 5

Tokyo Bombay		 1980 Jan 7

Calcutta
Europe America
Boeing 747 		1980 Jun 2

Bombay Lusaka
Via Dar-es-Salaam
Post Office Cover

  
1980 Jun 5

Bombay Melbourne
Via Perth, Sydney
Post Office Cover

     1981 Mar 10

Bombay Sharjah
Post Office Cover

 1981 Mar 10

Sharjah Bombay
1982 Jan 3

Amritsar Birmingham
Post Office Cover

 1982 Oct 2

Bombay Montreal

 1982 Oct 2

Montreal Bombay		    
1982 Oct 15

Karachi Bombay
50th Anniversary Reenactment
Pakistan Post Office Cover
 1982 Oct 15

Karachi Bombay
50th Anniversary Reenactment
India Post Office Cover		 1982 Oct 15

Ahmedabad Bombay
50th Anniversary Reenactment
India Post Office Cover
 1983 Apr 2

Bombay Sana'a 		1983 Apr 2

Sana'a Bombay
1985 Jan 19

Bombay Toronto

 1985 Jan 19

Toronto Bombay 		  1989 Jan 17

Adelaide - New Delhi
Goodwill Flight
from Australian Air Mail Society to INDIA 89		 1990 Mar 26

Fujairah Abu Dhabi
Bombay
Airbus A300
1993 Oct 2

Bombay Durban Johannesburg
Airbus A310

 

 1993 Oct 3

Johannesburg Durban  Bombay 		1993 Aug 14

New York New Delhi Non-Stop Boeing 747-400 Delivery Flight 		   
1996 Nov 30

Bombay Chicago 		1997 Jul 4

Mumbai Seoul		 1997 Jul 5

Seoul Mumbai
2004 Jun 11

Mumbai Los Angeles
  2006 Jan 30

Mumbai Turin
Olympic Team Flight 		2007 Aug 01



Mumbai New York
Non Stop
Boeing 777-200-LR 		2007 Aug 29

 

Kolkata Guwahati
India Post & Air India Cargo

Updated: Tuesday, September 15, 2015