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