Air-India

formerly
Air-India International

India

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Air-India I - The Main Air-India page.

Click to view Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page,
featuring timetables from the collection of Germain Mentgen.

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Air-India International was set up in March 1948 jointly by Air-India (the recently renamed Tata Air Lines) and the Indian Government, with Air-India responsible for management. In June of that year a Constellation opened the route from Bombay to London via Cairo and Geneva. More European cities were added to the network within the next few years as was a route to Nairobi.

The Indian Government decided to nationalize all Indian airlines in 1953 and with effect from August of that year, Air-India International became a State Corporation. Except for routes from Bombay to Delhi and Calcutta, which served as extensions to the intercontinental routes, all routes of Air-India, as well as of the other domestic and regional operators, were transferred to Indian Airlines Corporation.

In 1962 the airline officially dropped 'International' to become just Air-India, but it had already traded as such for a few years, as evidenced by the timetables.

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During the 1950s and '60s, Air-India's system timetables came in two comprehensive worldwide versions in English (in addition to editions in German, French etc. and disregarding later North American editions in English). The main difference between the two versions seems to be the list of fares. One version ("Eastern version") could be regarded as a home system, not only for use in India but systemwide. The list of fares shows fares to and from all cities on the network. During the 1960s, the list of fares was shortened to showing just fares from cities in Asia, Australia and Africa to all cities on the network, but not in the reverse direction (i.e. no fares from New York or cities in Europe). The other version ("Western version") seems to have emanated from a European edition, for use originally also in the Middle East (later reduced to just Cairo), and later the U.S.A. However, the list of fares is centrered on Europe and though it shows fares to cities beyond Bombay (like Calcutta, Singapore, Tokyo or Sydney), it does not show any fares in the other direction from these cities, only from Bombay westward. *) This clearly shows that this version was not for use in India or east of India.

Both versions seem to have been abandoned in 1967, after which just one comprehensive system timetable, with a complete list of fares, was issued for worldwide use. (However, the separate North American edition was continued for a few years, as was the "slim size edition", introduced in 1966, which lacked fares and primarily showed the schedules.)

This website has marked timetables clearly identified as being of the first version ("Eastern version" or "home system") with a # to the right of the date. On this page they cover the years 1953-1967 (1954-1962 on Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page). The other version is not marked in any way.

See also Perry Sloan's comments on the two versions on the Air-India page of his AirTimes website.

*) No rule without exceptions: Timetables of the "Western version" from 1955-1956 also show fares from a few cities beyond Bombay, like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok, but not Singapore or other more easterly cities.

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Air-India International
November 1, 1948

Click to view the complete timetable
Compare this timetable with the dark blue timetable of the same date
shown on the alternative Air India page. But for colours they are identical.

Air-India International
June 1, 1950

UK edition
(System)
(From the collection of Dacre Watson)

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Air-India International
September 1950

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Air-India International
April 1951

(From the collection of Michael Dawes)
Click for a view of the interior

DZ

Air-India International
May 1, 1952

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Air-India International
November 1, 1952 (October 1 deleted) (October 26 inside)

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Air-India International
March 1, 1953

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E-mail Björn for more images of this timetable (contact info at bottom of page)

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Air-India International
April 7, 1953 (February 1 deleted)

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Air-India International
June 1, 1953

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Air-India International
September 1, 1953 #

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Air-India International
November 1, 1953

German edition
(System)

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Air-India International
April 3, 1954

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Air-India International
November 1, 1954

Italian edition
(System)
(From the collection of Antonio Bordoni)
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Air-India International
January 1, 1955

Click for a view of the interior (route map)
E-mail Björn for more images of this timetable (contact info at bottom of page)

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Air-India International
April 1, 1955 #

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Air-India International
May 1, 1956

German edition
(System)

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Air-India International
June 1, 1956

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Air-India International
August 1, 1956 #

DZ

Air-India International
February 1, 1957 #

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Air-India International
March 1, 1957

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Air-India International
August 1, 1957

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Air-India International
September 1, 1957

Air-India International
October 1957

German edition
(System)
(Courtesy of Jaroslav Farka)
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Air-India International
November 1, 1957

Air-India International
December 1, 1957

Italian edition
(System)
(From the collection of Antonio Bordoni)
Click for larger view as well as views of the interior

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Air-India International
April 1, 1958 #

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Air-India International
May 1, 1958

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Air-India International
July 1, 1958

German edition
(System)
Click to view the complete English language edition (BL)

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Air-India International
August 1, 1958

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Air-India International
September 1, 1958

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Air-India International
November 1, 1958

Click for larger view (this image from the collection of Germain Mentgen)

Air-India International
December 1, 1958

Italian edition
(System)
(From the collection of Antonio Bordoni)
Click for larger view
Click for a view of the interior

Air-India International
January 1, 1959

Italian edition
(System)
(From the collection of Antonio Bordoni)
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Air-India International
February 1, 1959

Click for larger view (this image from the collection of Germain Mentgen)

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Air-India International
March 1, 1959

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Air-India International
April 19, 1959

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July 1, 1959
Click for larger view (this image from the collection of Germain Mentgen)

DZ

August 1, 1959
Click to view the complete timetable (these images from the collection of Diederik R. Vels Heijn)

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November 1, 1959 ("December edition") #

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December 1, 1959
German edition
(System)

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February 1960
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May 3, 1960
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October 1960

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November 1960
Revised edition
(System)

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February 1961

March 1, 1961
Italian edition
(System)
(From the collection of Antonion Bordoni)
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April 1961

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May 1, 1961 #

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May 1, 1961

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August 1, 1961 #

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September 1, 1961

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October 1961

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January 1962

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March 1962

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July 1962

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October 1962

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November 1962

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December 1962

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January 1963

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February 1963

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March 1963
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July 1, 1963
North American edition
(System)

August 1963
(From the collection of Kevin Thorne)
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October 1, 1963

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October 27, 1963

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April 1964

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October 25, 1964 #

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October 1965
(From the collection of Rauno Segersvärd)
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June 1966

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April 1967

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Until August 31, 1968
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To March 31, 1969

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June 15, 1970
Slim size edition
(System)
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July 1, 1970

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May 24, 1971
Slim size edition
(System)
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April 1, 1972
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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August 1, 1972
(Courtesy of Ben Brans)

Until October 27, 1973
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
Click for larger view including the back cover

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April 1, 1974
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December 1, 1974
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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April 1, 1975
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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Click for larger view as well as a views of the interior (schedule part is complete) (these images courtesy of Hans-Dieter Schmidt).

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April 1, 1976
(Courtesy of Hans-Dieter Schmidt)
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August 1, 1976
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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November 1, 1976
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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April 1, 1977
Click for larger view as well as views of the interior (schedule part is complete)

November 1, 1977
(From the collection of Daniel Rubenson)
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April 1982
(From the collection of Todd Budish)
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July 1, 1983
(From the collection of Wassim Chemaitilly)

January 15, 1986
(From the collection of Wassim Chemaitilly)

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March 25, 1990

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October 28, 1990

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March 31, 1991

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March 29, 1992

October 31, 1993
(From the collection of Piotr Topolski)
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March 27, 1994
(From the collection of Norbert Hahn)

March 26, 1995
(From the collection of Norbert Hahn)

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March 26, 2000
Click for larger view (this image from the collection of Aleksandar Obradovic)

March 28, 2004
(From the collection of James Sullivan)

October 29, 2006
(Courtesy of Arjun Sarup)
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October 7, 2007
Domestic timetable
(System - includes all international routes)
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October 28, 2007
International and selected domestic routes

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March 29, 2009
Click for larger view

DZ

March 28, 2010

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October 30, 2011
Click for larger view

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See also Air-India II - The Alternative Air-India page,
featuring timetables from the collection of Germain Mentgen.

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For quick comparison with other Air-India timetables,
visit the Air-India page of Perry Sloan's "AirTimes" site.

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This page last updated April 1, 2023.