Air India Limited

Indian Airlines has been setting the standards for civil aviation in India since its inception in 1953. It has many firsts to its credit, including introduction of the wide bodied A300 aircraft on the domestic network, the fly-by-wire A320, domestic shuttle service, walk in flights and easy fares.

Its unique logo emblazoned on the tails of all its aircraft has become synonymous with service, efficiency and reliability. Civil Aviation forms a very important infrastructure segment in boosting trade and commerce, as well as, in enhancing overall international competitiveness. In value terms, nearly 30% of India 's foreign trade is handled by the airports.

Until recently only two private airlines - Jet Airways and Air Sahara offered competition to the national carriers, but in the last few years, a large number of private airlines such as Air Deccan, SpiceJet, Kingfisher Airlines, Go Air, Paramount, Indigo etc. have entered the domestic market.

Air India is India's national flag carrier. Although air transport was born in India on February 18, 1911 when Henri Piquet, flying a Humber bi-plane, carried mail from Allahabad to Naini Junction, some six miles away, the scheduled services in India, in the real sense, began on October 15, 1932.

It was on this day that J.R.D. Tata, the father of Civil Aviation in India and founder of Air India, took off from Drigh Road Airport, Karachi, in a tiny, light single-engined de Havilland Puss Moth on his flight to Mumbai (then known as Bombay) via Ahmedabad.