Air India

About Air India

Air India Limited (Hindi: एअर इंडिया) is the national airline of India with a worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. Air India is state-owned, and administered as part of the National Aviation Company of India Limited - which was created in 2007 to facilitate Air India's merger with Indian Airlines. The main base of operations of the airline are Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai and Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport. Together with its subsidiaries and related carriers, Air India connects over 120 destinations around the world and includes twelve gateways in India. Air India is expected to formally join the Star Alliance in March 2009.

Air India was founded by J. R. D. Tata in 1932 as Tata Airlines, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group). On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single-engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by former Royal Air Force pilot Nevill Vintcent.

Following the end of World War II, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946 under the name Air India. In 1948, after the Independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India, with an option to purchase an additional 2%. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International. On 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess and registered VT-CQP took off from Bombay bound for London via Cairo and Geneva. This marked the airline's first long-haul international flight, soon followed by service in 1950 to Nairobi via Aden.