formerly India |
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Air-India I - The Main Air-India page.
Click to view Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page,
featuring timetables from the collection of Germain Mentgen.
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Air-India International was set up in March 1948 jointly by Air-India (the recently renamed Tata Air Lines) and the Indian Government, with Air-India responsible for management. In June of that year a Constellation opened the route from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva. More European cities were added to the network within the next few years as was a route to Nairobi.
The Indian Government decided to nationalize all Indian airlines in 1953 and with effect from August of that year, Air-India International became a State Corporation. Except for routes from Bombay to Delhi and Calcutta, which served as extensions to the intercontinental routes, all routes of Air-India, as well as of the other domestic and regional operators, were transferred to Indian Airlines Corporation.
In 1962 the airline officially dropped 'International' to become just Air-India, but it had already traded as such for a few years, as evidenced by the timetables.
During the 1950s and '60s, Air-India's system timetables came in two comprehensive worldwide versions in English (in addition to editions in German, French etc. and disregarding later North American editions in English). The main difference between the two versions seems to be the list of fares. One version ("Eastern version") could be regarded as a home system, not only for use in India but systemwide. The list of fares shows fares to and from all cities on the network. During the 1960s, the list of fares was shortened to showing just fares from cities in Asia, Australia and Africa to all cities on the network, but not in the reverse direction (i.e. no fares from New York or cities in Europe). The other version ("Western version") seems to have emanated from a European edition, for use originally also in the Middle East (later reduced to just Cairo), and later the U.S.A. However, the list of fares is centrered on Europe and though it shows fares to cities beyond Bombay (like Calcutta, Singapore, Tokyo or Sydney), it does not show any fares in the other direction from these cities, only from Bombay westward. *) This clearly shows that this version was not for use in India or east of India. Both versions seem to have been abandoned in 1967, after which just one comprehensive system timetable, with a complete list of fares, was issued for worldwide use. (However, the separate North American edition was continued for a few years, as was the "slim size edition", introduced in 1966, which lacked fares and primarily showed the schedules.) This website has marked timetables clearly identified as being of the first version ("Eastern version" or "home system") with a # to the right of the date. On this page they cover the years 1953-1967 (1954-1962 on Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page). The other version is not marked in any way.
See also Perry Sloan's comments on the two versions on the Air-India page of his AirTimes website.
*) No rule without exceptions: Timetables of the "Western version" from 1955-1956 also show fares from a few cities beyond Bombay, like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok, but not Singapore or other more easterly cities. |
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See also Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page,
featuring timetables from the collection of Germain Mentgen.
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For quick comparison with other Air-India timetables,
visit the Air-India page of
Perry Sloan's "AirTimes" site.
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This page last updated October 9, 2024.