The Hindu Business Line : A nation learns to fly

At the time of Independence, travel within India was mostly by the various express trains operated by British companies between Delhi and other important capital and port cities like Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Nagpur and Cochin. The time for travel between Madras and Delhi was 48-52 hours and the train fare was below Rs 20 in third class.

However, there were domestic airlines operating between the cities on a daily basis — the popular and important one being ‘Air India, the Tata Airline’, as it was then called. There were other airlines operated by the big business houses of Birlas, Dalmias and Singhanias connecting mostly north Indian cities.

The airfare between Madras and Delhi was about Rs 460, Madras and Calcutta Rs 520, Madras and Bombay Rs 410 and Madras and Colombo Rs 290. These companies had bought the surplus aircraft left by the US air force in India after the end of World War II. The aircraft used then was a twin-engine turboprop called Dakota (DC 3).

India had no international airline until 1950 when Air India International was formed to operate between Bombay and London via Europe. Our international traffic was mostly to the UK at that time. In 1947, the US Government had negotiated with India and obtained traffic rights between India and the US, enabling two airlines — Pan American Airways and Trans World Airlines (TWA) — to operate into and through India.

Few airports

As Karachi was originally a port city in India which we lost to Pakistan, we had no big airport except Calcutta to receive international flights. So Palam airport in Delhi operated by the IAF was allowed to be used by the new Pan American Airways and BOAC. Other international airlines such as Air France, KLM and SAS, as well as BOAC were using Calcutta.

TWA had no choice but to use the Juhu Flying Club in Bombay until the Santa Cruz airport was formed when Air India International commenced operations between Bombay and London.

The two American carriers developed travel between India and the US via intermediate cities in Europe and the UK. The fare offered then was Rs 2,600 to London and Rs 3,300 to New York, with the return fare to New York being Rs 4,600. The time taken to reach London was about 32 hours and New York City 42-46 hours.

BOAC used Vicker’s Viscount and speedboats, and Pan Am and TWA used DC4 Skymaster. They were able to operate profitably as they were also allowed to pick up traffic between European cities.

Prior to and after Independence, colonial airlines such as BOAC, Air France, KLM and SAS flew through Karachi and Calcutta, catering to British businessmen and their families, missionaries and their families, and those going to the UK for higher studies. Government personnel, ministers and politicians used domestic and international airlines especially to Geneva, London and New York to attend international conferences

Exporters of hide and skin, cotton fabric, spices, essential oils, iron ore and minerals, manila seeds, mica and rosewood were using shipping lines via the ports of Madras, Cochin, Colombo, Bombay and Visakhapatnam. The advent of the two American airlines triggered the movement of some of these commodities by air.

Nascent tourism

Tourism also developed between India, the UK and the US. No visa was required for Indians to visit the UK or any other Commonwealth country and it was easy to obtain a US visa.

We had weekly sailings from Madras and Nagapattinam to Singapore, carrying labourers and traders. This traffic was always heavy as Singapore and Penang could be freely visited by Indians. This shipping line was operated by Binny and Co.

Later on, Air India operated three weekly flights to Singapore from Madras with a heavy traffic of tourists and Sindhi merchants who brought in textiles from Singapore for sale in shops here, taking advantage of liberal customs regulations.

There were not many travel agents in India then; Delhi and Madras had two each, and Bombay had three. However, the British shipping companies that were handling shipping lines had a travel department mostly to cater to their own personnel and expats such as plantation managers and technical people. They used the cargo liners for their holidays via Cochin and Bombay.

We had occasional visits by big ocean liners, which were anchored in mid-ocean, bringing globetrotters to our shores.

The author joined the US airline TWA in Delhi in 1947

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