Indian National Airways Ltd

Time Table cover of Indian National Airways c.1933

Indian National Airways Ltd was an airline based in Delhi, India.^[1] The founder of the airline was R. E. Grant Govan, a Delhi based British industrialist who also co-founded the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the Cricket Club of India.^[2][3][4] The airline was formed on the basis of a government airmail contract.^[5]

The company was started by Govan Bros Ltd. in May 1933 with a capital of Rs. 3 million.^[6] It became the second airline to start operations in India in December 1933, with a weekly passenger and freight service between Calcutta and Rangoon as well as between Calcutta and Dhaka.^[7] It also started a weekly service between Karachi and Lahore, a feeder service for Imperial Airways.^[1] The company then had a fleet made up of light single engined aircraft.^[8] By 1937 the airline had clocked over a million miles and made a slender annual profit.^[9]

The airline was awarded another government contract in 1938 under the Empire Air Mail Scheme for carrying first class mail on the Karachi - Lahore and Karachi - Colombo routes for a period of ten years along with Tata Airlines. This was a major boost for aviation in India. As this contract promised a minimum income along with an operating subsidy, the company was able to expand and renovate its fleet.^[7][10] During World War II, all mail contracts were suspended and aircraft put under government disposal. Only spare capacity was allowed for commercial use, which affected the industry on the whole.^[7]

It was one of the four major airlines in India at the time of Indian Independence in 1947.^[11] As of 1947, the airline had a fleet of six Vickers Viking with another nine De Havilland Dove on order.^[12] The company also bought some war-surplus Douglas DC-3 aircraft from the United States of America at the end of the war.^[13] In 1953 Indian National Airways was nationalised and merged into Indian Airlines.^[7]

References