Tata Air Lines, India by mail and passengers
Before Air India came Tata Sons and then Tata Airlines. In the 1930s, Nevill Vintcent and J. R. D. Tata launched an internal mail service coordinated with Imperial Airways, before gradually expanding passenger transport.
This plan follows the 1939 map: Delhi, Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore, Hyderabad, Madras, Trichinopoly, Colombo, Trivandrum, Kannur, Goa, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Bhuj and Karachi.
The Indian domestic network before Air India.
Connect India through a useful and progressive line.
Light, historical and immersive.
Heat, large distances, coasts and historical cities.
Understanding the flight
Tata Airlines was born from industrial spirit, aviation passion and postal need. The future Air India began with modest aircraft and very concrete lines.
The route shows an immense subcontinent, but not an abstract one: cities, west coast, Ceylon and Karachi form a real commercial map.
Before departure
- Choose an old De Havilland if you want to feel the fragility of the beginnings.
- Keep hot but readable weather, especially around the plateau and coasts.
- Prepare Kannur as a manual overflight point if the airport does not exist in your simulator.
- Split the route over several days to avoid a marathon effect.
Suggested route
Delhi and central India
Delhi, Gwalior, Bhopal, Indore and Hyderabad give the inland column.
VIDD → VIGR → VABP → VAID → VOHY
South India and Ceylon
Madras, Trichinopoly, Colombo and Trivandrum open the southern and maritime section.
VOHY → VOMM → VOTR → VCCC → VOTV
West coast and Karachi
Kannur, Goa, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Bhuj and Karachi close the network toward imperial connections.
VOTV → VAGO → VAJJ → VAAH → VABJ → OPKC
Experience tips
A light aircraft makes the page much more intimate than a modern aircraft.
Heat and distance are the two main constraints: depart early and keep margin.
Copyright Michel Lagneau 2013