Chronology of Civil Aviation in India

 

Civil Aviation in India

 Editor: Likha Taje

Chronology of Civil Aviation in India:

 

Date	Achievement / Activities
18th Feb 1911	·         World’s first airmail service was started in India at Allahabad,  on the occasion of Kumbh mela, Henry Piquet carried 6500 mails on a Humber biplane from Allahabad to Naini covering almost a distance of 10km.
December 1912	·         Introduced first International flight to and from India. Over the route of London-Karachi-Delhi with the collaboration of Indian state air services and UK based imperial airways.
24th Jan 1920	·         Regular airmail services were started by Tata Sons Ltd, between Karachi and Madrasand. ·         Royal airforce started regular airmail services between Karachi and Bombay
1924	·         Construction of airports in India started at Dum Dum in Calcutta, Bamrauli in Allahabad and Gillbert hill of Bombay in.
April 1927	·         Separate Department of civil aviation was set up. ·         Aero club of India was established.
Feb 1929	·         JRD Tata became the first person to be awarded with pilot license by Aeronautique International on behalf of Aero club of India and Burma.
1929	·         Aga Khan announced a solo race between London and Bombay.   Participants were - JRD Tata, Man Mohan Singh and Aspy Merchant. Man Mohan singh won the race.
1931	·         Lt Col Shelmerdine became the first Director General of civil aviation (DGCA).
1932	·         Tata Airlines became a division of Tata Sons Limited. ·         It started Air Mail services on the Karachi, Ahmedabad, Bombay, Bellary, Madras routes on 15 October.
1932	·         Urmila K.Parikh became the first Indian woman to get a pilot’s license.
1933 - 1934	·         Number of other airlines such as Indian Trans Continental Airways, Madras Air Taxi Services, Indian National airways etc. commenced.
1934	·         Indian aircraft act was promulgated.
1937	·         Indian aircraft act was formulated.
1940	·         Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) set up by Walchand Hirachand in association with the then Mysore Government at Bangalore.
July 1941	·         India’s first aircraft, the Harlow trainer was rolled out for test flight.
1945	·         Deccan Airways was founded – jointly owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata. Its first flight began in July 1946.
1946	·          ‘Air India’ came into being when Tata Airlines changed its name to Air India.
1948	·         Air India signed an agreement with the Government to operate international services under the name Air India International Ltd. ·         On June 8 AirIndia inaugurated its international services with a weekly flight between Bombay and London via Cairo and Geneva. ·         Prem Mathur became the first woman commercial pilot and started flying for Deccan Airways.
March 1953	·         Indian Parliament passed the Air Corporations Act, and Indian Airlines and Air India International were set up after nationalisation of the entire airline industry.
1953	·         India’s Civil Helicopter Services was introduced.
1956	·         Ms. Durba Banerjee was inducted as the first woman pilot of Indian Airlines.
1960	·         India entered the jet age with the introduction of Boeing 707-437 into the fleet of Air India and USA was connected to India for the first time by an Indian airline flight.
1972	·          International Airports Authority of India (IAAI) was constituted
1981	·         Vayudoot airlines (a government owned Airline Company) started operation in this year.
1984	·          Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma of Indian Air Force becomes the first Indian cosmonaut and the 138th man in space spending 8 days in space abroad Salyut 7
1985	·          Captain Saudamini Deshmukh commanded the first all women crew flight on an Indian Airlines Fokker friendship F-27 on the Calcutta-Silchar route. ·         Establishment of Pawan Hans Helicopters Limited (PHHL) ·         Establishment of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Academy (IGRUA) in Fursatganj, Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh for training of pilots. ·         Known as most traumatic year for Indian aviation when Air India flight AI 182 between Montreal and Delhi was blown up by terrorists over the Atlantic Ocean.
1986	·         National Airports Authority was constituted.
1987	·         Bureau of Civil Aviation Security was established.
1989	·         Captain Saudamini Deshmukh  commanded the first Boeing all-women crew flight on September 1989 on the Mumbai-Goa sector. ·         Indian Airlines became one of the earliest airline of the world to induct A320s type of aircraft from the Airbus Company.
1990	·         Entry of private airlines began, after the de-regulation of the civil aviation sector. Private airlines were given permission to operate charter and non-scheduled services under the ‘Air Taxi’ Scheme. ·         The East West Airlines was  the first national level private airline to operate in the country after almost 37 years. ·         Captain Nivedita Bhasin of Indian Airlines at 26 became the youngest pilot in civil aviation history to command a jet aircraft, she became the first woman check pilot on an Airbus A300 aircraft. ·         land-mark year for Indian civil aviation and  Air India when  Air India entered  the Guinness Book of World Records for largest evacuation effort by a single civilian airline when it flew  over 1,11,000  people from Amman to Mumbai in 59 days operating 488 flights just before the Gulf war began.
1994	·         Air Corporation Act private airlines were permitted to operate scheduled services  and a number of private players including Jet Airways, Air Sahara, Modiluft, Damania Airways, NEPC Airlines and  East West Airlines commenced domestic operations.
1995	·         India’s six private airlines accounted for more than 10% of domestic traffic. ·         Airport Authority of India (AAI) was constituted after the merging of the International Airport Authority of India with National Airports Authority
1998	·         Dr. Kalpana Chawla became the first Indian-born woman to fly to space as part of a NASA team. ·         First Private Airport came up in the country in Cochin, Kerala
1999	·         Another tragic year in the history of Indian civil aviation when the IC 814 flight of Indian Airlines was hijacked to Kandahar
2003	·         All the ‘Low Cost Carriers’ included ushers in the country when Air Deccan started its services.
2004	·         Government approved setting up of private airports at Hyderabad and Banglore.
2005	·         Government designated Air India, Indian Airlines, Jet Airways and Air Sahara to operate international services.
2006	·         Government approved the restructuring and modernization of Mumbai and Delhi Airport through Public Private Partnership.
2007	·         Regional Airlines Policy was announced wherein licenses were given for operation of airlines within a particular region.
2008	·         Path breaking Greenfield Airports Policy of the Government was announced.
2009	·         Parliament passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA) bill and the AERA was set up.
2010	·         Brand new integrated terminal T-3 was inaugurated in New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. ·         Pawan Hans started its Sea Plane Services Jal Hans