INDIAN NATIONAL AIRWAYS, LTD. (INA): India (1933-1946). To serve as a shareholder in Indian Trans-Continental Airways, Ltd. (ITCA) and as agent to develop internal and feeder services in northern India, INA is founded in May 1933 with R 3 million in capitalization; controlling interest is held by Govan Brothers, Ltd. concern, 60% of that ownership being non-Indian. Technical assistance will be provided under contract by Airwork, Ltd. of the U. K. On July 7, INA officially acquires a 25% stake in ITCA after which INA begins marketing its new product, and that of Imperial Airways, Ltd. and ITCA.
Employing de Havilland DH 84 Dragons, the company begins weekly Calcutta-Rangoon service on December 1 via Chittagong, Akyab, and Bassein. Simultaneously, in the country’s first daily scheduled flights, DH 83 Fox Moth flights commence Calcutta-Dacca. These services are designed to supplement the ITCA operation to the east of Calcutta.
During the year, pilot Capt. Harold H. Balfour publishes his recollections of flying for the carrier, An Airman Marches (London: Hutchinson, 1933).
On December 4, 1934, weekly Percival Gull mail service is launched from Lahore to Karachi via Sukkur; the first return flight is made two days later. On June 13, 1935, Sukkur is dropped as a stop. Daily
Calcutta-Dacca services are withdrawn on June 15; the same day, Chittagong is dropped as a stop on the Calcutta-Rangoon route. The Rangoon service is withdrawn on August 9.
INA flies only a Lahore-Karachi service in 1936. Under charter to the British Air Ministry, INA, employing an Indian government Avro 10, surveys the Southern Shan States for a China route during November and December 1937.
Under terms of the Empire Air Mail Program, the government contracts with INA on February 28, 1938 for the transport of first-class unsurcharged mail over the Lahore-Karachi route, with Jacobabad and Multan added as stops. Beech 17s commence the service the next day. The Lahore end of the Karachi route is extended to Delhi in November. On July 1, 1939, thrice-weekly flights are begun to Kaika from both Delhi and Lahore.
The Delhi end of the Karachi service is extended to Calcutta on June 27, 1940, with Beech 17s now flying from Karachi to Jacobabad, Multan, Lahore, Delhi, Cawnpore, Allahabad, and Calcutta. Frequency is doubled on December 8. Between March 30 and August 25, 1941, Patna replaces Allahabad on the Delhi-Cawnpore-Calcutta segment, but is supplanted by Allahabad once more on November 3.
Twice-weekly Calcutta-Rangoon services begun on January 5, 1942 are suspended on February 17. Seven days later, service is started between Calcutta and Magwe, Burma. On March 17, Calcutta to Shwebo, Burma, flights begin via Chittagong. The Calcutta-Magwe service is withdrawn on March 22 and that between Chittagong and Shwebo is suspended from March 28-April 12.
The Chittagong-Shwebo route is cancelled on April 12, the same day thrice-weekly Calcutta-Dinjang via Tezpur DH 89A/Beech 17 flights commence. A weekly Delhi-Colombo Beech 18 frequency is introduced on May 27 via Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bangalore, and Trichinopoly. Daily Lahore-Multan-Jacobabad-Quetta services are offered during the summer. The first of three Douglas DC-2s to be received from the RAF arrives on September 22 and is placed on the Delhi-Colombo route.
Twice-weekly Delhi-Karachi via Jodhpur DC-2 service is initiated on January 17, 1943. Three days later, Jorhat replaces Dinjang as terminus on the service formerly flown via Tezpur from Calcutta. With Rawalpini as an optional stop, thrice-weekly Delhi-Peshawar via Lahore Beech 17/DH 89A flights begin on August 19.
INA’s first DC-3s are introduced on the Delhi-Colombo service in March 1944. On August 28, DH 89A Gwalior-Delhi flights begin. Twice-weekly DC-3 frequencies are launched Delhi-Madras on April 18, 1945 and are flown via Allahabad, Nagpur, Hyderabad, and Bangalore. On June 4, the carrier ceases operations west of Karachi. Six DC-3s are purchased and after VJ-Day all of its routes are officially certified.
The first Indian air service with a title is launched on February 7, 1946; U. P. Indiaman DC-3 flights commence Delhi-Lucknow. Six Vickers Vikings are ordered in April. On June 1, Delhi-Ahmedabad via Lahore, Bikaner, and Jodhpur Rajputana Indiaman flights begin. During the summer, additional Indiaman frequencies are inaugurated to Calcutta, Peshawar, and Karachi. In July, the carrier is acquired by Dalmia-Jain, Ltd., and is renamed Dalmia-Jain Airways, Ltd.
World History
