Air India then run by the Chairman, J.R.D.Tata (known as Father of Indian Civil Aviation) created aviation history in its inaugral flight the ‘Malabar Princess'(registered VT-CQP), a 40-seater Lockheed Constellation L-749A aircraft to London Heathrow from Bombay (Mumbai)via Cairo and Geneva on Tuesday, June 08th, 1948 with Captain K.R.Guzdar in command. The National carrier of India was launched as an International Airline.
Months of meticulous planning had finally paid off. Carefully selected staff members wre alloted to the new operation. New staff were recruited and Air India offices were opened in Cairo, Geneva and London. The Cairo office was set up by F.Nariman, G.Bertoli took charge of the Geneva operations and London was headed by M.A.S.Dalal, where Air India had a very small set up at London Airport.
This was the airlines first long-haul flight, a milestone in the history of Indian Civil Aviation, soon followed by a service in 1950 to Nairobi via Aden. This beautiful silver state-of-the-art Lockheed Constellation aircraft bearing the tricolour was the finest that money could buy.
‘Malabar Princess’ arrived in London in the early hours of June 10th taking a little more than 24 hours. For the second leg of the journey from Cairo, Captain D.K.Jatar was in command.
After World War II, a regular commercial service was restored in India, and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on July 29th, 1946 under the name Air India. In 1948 after, 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 service from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International.
In 1948 only a few airlines existed and not many countries had their own international operations. India had achieved a notable milestone, ahead of others that night.