The Hindu Business Line : Oct, a month to remember for AI

New Delhi, Sept. 16 October will be the month for Air India to welcome the new with the expansion of the route network to include Allahabad and say goodbye to the use of Boeing 737-200 aircraft for passenger services.

On October 15 this year, Air India Regional plans to launch a three-times-a-week flight linking Delhi with Allahabad, which is the place from where Indian aviation took off nearly a century ago when Mr Henri Piquet carried mail from Allahabad to Naini junction.

Air India Regional is the new name given to the smaller ATR and Canadian Regional jet aircraft in the fleet, earlier operated by Alliance Air, which was a 100 per cent subsidiary of Indian. However, with the Air India and Indian amalgamating into National Aviation Company of India Ltd, the new entity created has also been called Air India.

Incidentally, the date has another significance. In 1932 on the same day, J.R.D. Tata took off from Karachi to Mumbai launching what is considered as the beginning of aviation in the country.

The month also sees the end of an era for travellers with Indian, as on October 27 the Boeing 737-200 aircraft with the airline would fly with passengers for the last time.

The airline took delivery of its first Boeing 737 aircraft in December 1970 and had a maximum of 29 such aircraft at the end of March 1989 after which the phase out of these aircraft started. At present, the airline has a fleet of 11 such aircraft that are operated by Alliance Air.

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