Airfare Best India
Airfare Best India
Air India Limited (Hindi: एअर इंडिया ) is the national airline of India based in Mumbai, flying a worldwide network of passenger and cargo services. The National Aviation Company of India Limited administers the state-owned Air India and Indian Airlines merger..
Air India is the 16th largest airline in Asia, serving 24 destinations worldwide, and, with its affiliated carriers, serves over 100 cities. Air India has codeshare agreements with 13 other international airlines. In October 2010, Air India is expected to join Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance.
History
Air India was founded by J. R. D. Tata in 1932 as Tata Airlines , a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group). On 15 October 1932, J. R. D. Tata flew a single-engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi's Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay's Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by former Royal Air Force pilot Nevill Vintcent.
Following the end of World War II, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on 29 July 1946 under the name Air India. In 1948, after the Independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India, with an option to purchase an additional 2%. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International . On 8 June 1948, a Lockheed Constellation L-749A named Malabar Princess (registered VT-CQP) took off from Bombay bound for London via Cairo and Geneva. This marked the airline's first long-haul international flight, soon followed by service in 1950 to Nairobi via Aden.
On 1 August 1953, the Government of India exercised its option to purchase a majority stake in the carrier and Air India International Limited was born as one of the fruits of the Air Corporations Act that nationalised the air transportation industry. At the same time all domestic services were transferred to Indian Airlines. In 1954, the airline took delivery of its first L-1049 Super Constellations and inaugurated services to Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore.
Air India International entered the jet age in 1960 when its first Boeing 707-420, named Gauri Shankar (registered VT-DJJ), was delivered. Jet services to New York City via London were inaugurated that same year on 14 May 1960. On 8 June 1962, the airline's name was officially truncated to Air India. On 11 June 1962, Air India became the world's first all-jet airline.
On 8 March 2004, International Women's Day, the airline operated an "All Women Flight" from Mumbai to Singapore. Captain Rashmi Miranda, who became Air-India's first female Commander in November 2003, and Captain Kshmata Bajpai piloted the flight, an Airbus A310-300 aircraft. The flight dispatch activities relating to this flight were coordinated by a female Flight Dispatcher, Vasanti Kolnad. The Safety Audit on board was also conducted by another woman, Harpreet A De Singh. The airline has seventeen female pilots, including five trainee pilots.
Expansion
In 1970, Air India moved its offices to downtown Bombay. The next year, the airline took delivery of its first Boeing 747-200B named Emperor Ashoka (registered VT-EBD). This coincided with the introduction of the 'Palace In The Sky' livery and branding. A feature of this livery is the paintwork around each aircraft window, in the cusped arch style of windows in Indian palaces. In 1986 Air India took delivery of the Airbus A310-300; the airline is the largest operator of this type in passenger service. In 1988, Air India took delivery of two Boeing 747-300Ms in mixed passenger-cargo configuration. In 1989, to supplement its "Flying Palace" livery, Air India introduced a new "sun" livery that was mostly white with a golden sun on a red tail. Only applied to around a half of Air India's fleet, the new livery did not succeed, as the Indian flying public complained about the phasing out of the classic colours. The livery was dropped after two years and the old scheme was returned.
In 1993, Air India took delivery of the flagship of its fleet when the first Boeing 747-400 named Konark (registered VT-ESM) made history by operating the first non-stop flight between New York City and Delhi. In 1994 the airline was registered as Air India Ltd. In 1996, the airline inaugurated service to its second US gateway at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. In 1999, the airline opened its dedicated Terminal 2-C at the renamed Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai.
In 2000, Air India introduced services to Shanghai and to its third US gateway at Newark Liberty International Airport in Newark. On May 2004, Air India launched a wholly-owned low cost airline called Air-India Express. Air India Express connecting cities in India with the Middle East, Southeast Asia and the Subcontinent. In 2004 Air India launched flights to its fourth US gateway at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles (which has since been terminated) and expanded its international routes to include flights from Ahmedabad, Amritsar, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
On 1 March 2009, Air India made Frankfurt Airport its European Hub for its Trans-Atlantic North American Operations.
On 1 December 2009, Air India introduced services to its fifth US gateway at Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C..
Re-privatisation plans
In 2001, Air India was put up for sale by the then NDA government. One of the bids was by a consortium of Tata Group-Singapore Airlines. However the re-privatisation plans were shelved after Singapore Airlines pulled out and the global economy slumped.
In 2007, the Government of India announced that Air India would be merged with Indian Airlines. As part of the merger process, a new company called the National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) was established, into which both Air India (along with Air India Express) and Indian Airlines (along with Alliance Air) will be merged. Once the merger is complete, the airline - which will continue to be called Air India - will continue to be headquartered in Mumbai.
Star Alliance announced on 13 December 2007 that it had invited Air India to join as a member. Air India is set to become a full Star Alliance member in 2010.
India has the world's fastest growing airline industry. However, increasing fuel prices resulted in a 4% decline in air traffic in June 2008. Increasing competition of other major Indian carriers like Jet Airways and Kingfisher Airlines has pushed Air India to third place in India in terms of market share. In July 2008, it was reported that Air India was seeking Rs 2,300 crores (US$ 534 million) in aid from the Indian government to cover its losses. In the wake of rising fuel prices, the airline decided to hike its air fare in June 2008.
Financial crisis
Around 2006-2007, the airlines began showing signs of financial distress. The combined losses for Air India and Indian Airlines in 2006-07 were Rs 770 crores. After the merger of the airlines, this went up to Rs 7,200 crores by March 2009. This was followed by restructuring plans which are still in progress.. In July 2009, SBI Capital Markets Ltd was appointed to prepare a road map for the recovery of the airline. The carrier sold three Airbus A300 and one Boeing 747-300M in March 2009 for $ 18.75 million to survive the financial crunch.
Destinations
Main article: Air India destinationsSee also: NACIL destinations, Air India Express#Destinations, Air India Regional destinations, Indian Airlines destinations, and Air India Cargo#DestinationsAir India serves 9 domestic destinations and 15 international destinations in 8 countries. Together with its subsidiaries the group connects 93 destinations worldwide in 24 countries across Asia, Europe and North America.
Passenger operations
The airline carried 4.44 million passengers during 2005-2006 and achieved a load factor of 66.2 per cent lower than the 69.8 per cent load factor recorded in the preceding year. Air India offers three classes of service – First Class, Executive Class and Economy Class. Flat bed seats are offered for First and Executive Class passengers. Air In
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