https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Indian_National_AirwaysIndian National Airways - Revision history2026-07-31T18:19:23ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Indian_National_Airways&diff=504107&oldid=prevErnestLithgow16 at 22:00, 30 November 20252025-11-30T22:00:02Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Defunct Indian airline, 1933–1953}}<br />
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[[File:Indian National Airways.jpg|thumb|Time Table cover of Indian National Airways c. 1933]]<br />
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'''Indian National Airways Ltd''' was an airline based in [[Delhi]], India.<ref name=kholsa>{{cite book|last=Khosla|first=Gopal Das|title=Award on the industrial dispute between Air-India and their workmen|year=1966|publisher=India. National Industrial Tribunal (Airlines Disputes), Manager of Publications|pages=288|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JeVXAAAAMAAJ}}Page 15</ref> 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]].<ref name=asian>{{cite book|last=(London, England)|first=East India Association|title=Asian review|year=1957|publisher=East & West Ltd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=36kbAAAAMAAJ}}Page 105</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Aeroplane directory of British aviation|publisher=Published by the English Universities for Temple Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7MgpAQAAIAAJ|year=1953}}Page 458</ref><ref name=rd>{{cite book|last=Vasant Raiji|first=Anandji Dossa|title=CCI & the Brabourne Stadium, 1937-1987|year=1987|publisher=Cricket Club of India|pages=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hoVLAAAAYAAJ}}Page 22</ref> The airline was formed on the basis of a government airmail contract.<ref name=joseph>{{cite book|title=India today and tomorrow, Volume 5|year=1973|publisher=V.J. Joseph.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3RjoAAAAMAAJ}}Page 7-9</ref><br />
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== History ==<br />
The company was started by Govan Bros Ltd. in May 1933 with a capital of Rs. 3 million.<ref name=hpc>{{cite book|title=Aviation news, Volume 67|year=2005|publisher=HPC Publishing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LUkpAQAAIAAJ}}Page 845</ref> It became the second airline to start operations in India in December 1933, with weekly passenger and freight services from [[Calcutta]] to [[Rangoon]] and [[Dhaka]].<ref name=pns>{{cite book|last=Seth|first=Pran Nath|title=Successful Tourism: Volume II: Tourism Practices|year=2006|publisher=Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd|isbn=81-207-3200-6|pages=431|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vs4GM5e-0c8C}}Page 93-96</ref> It also started a weekly service between [[Karachi]] and [[Lahore]], a feeder service for [[Imperial Airways]].<ref name=kholsa/> The company then had a fleet made up of light single-engined aircraft.<ref>{{cite book|title=India: annual review|year=1960|publisher=Information Service of India.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tIcsAAAAMAAJ}}Page 92</ref> By 1937 the airline had clocked over a million miles and made a slender annual profit.<ref name=aviationnews>{{cite book|title=Aeroplane and commercial aviation news|year=1947|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qq09AQAAIAAJ}}Page 796</ref><br />
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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 [[Air India#As Tata Airlines|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.<ref name=pns/><ref name=boulger>{{cite book|last=Boulger|first=Demetrius Charles|title=Asian review|year=1970|publisher=East & West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VzMsAQAAIAAJ}}Page 106</ref> 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.<ref name=pns/><br />
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It was one of the four major airlines in India at the time of [[Partition of India|Indian Independence]] in 1947.<ref name=bme>{{cite book|last=Dr.SC Aggarwal|first=Dr. RK Rana|title=Basic Mathematics for Economists|publisher=FK Publications|pages=654|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MuY5tzLIMGQC|isbn=9788187139553}}Page 472</ref> Govan Bros Ltd. and all its businesses, including Indian National Airways Ltd, was sold to the Ramkrishna Dalmia led [[Dalmia Group]] on 4 July 1946. As of 1947, the airline had a fleet of six [[Vickers Viking]]s with another nine [[De Havilland Dove|De Havilland Doves]] on order.<ref name=mcg>{{cite book|last=Hudson Wood|first=Robert|title=Aviation news, Volume 7|year=1947|publisher=McGraw-Hill Pub. Co|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nv4fAAAAMAAJ}}Page 32</ref> The company also bought some war-surplus [[Douglas DC-3]] aircraft from the United States of America at the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reed|first=Sir Stanley|title=The Times of India directory and year book including who's who, Volume 35|year=1949|publisher=Bennett, Coleman.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B6sSAAAAIAAJ}}Page 275</ref> In 1953, Indian National Airways was nationalised and merged into [[Indian Airlines]].<ref name=pns/><br />
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==References==<br />
{{reflist}}<br />
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{{Portalbar|India|Companies|Aviation}}<br />
{{Airlines of India}}<br />
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[[Category:Airlines established in 1933]]<br />
[[Category:Airlines disestablished in 1953]]<br />
[[Category:Defunct airlines of India]]<br />
[[Category:Indian companies established in 1933]]<br />
[[Category:1953 disestablishments in India]]<br />
[[Category:Companies based in Delhi]]</div>ErnestLithgow16