Asian airline industry
India was one of the first countries to embrace civil aviation.[6] One of the first Asian airline companies wasAir India, which had its beginning as Tata Airlines in 1932, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group). The airline was founded by India's leading industrialist, JRD Tata. On October 15, 1932, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) fromKarachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by Royal Air Forcepilot Nevill Vincent. Tata Airlines was also one of the world's first major airlines which began its operations without any support from the Government.[7]
Philippine Airlines was founded on February 26, 1941, making it one of Asia's oldest carriers and also the oldest operating under its current name. The airline was started by a group of businessmen led by Andres Soriano, hailed as one of the Philippines' leading industrialists at the time. The airline’s first flight was made on March 15, 1941 with a single Beech Model 18 NPC-54 aircraft, which started its daily services between Manila (from Nielson Field) andBaguio, later to expand with larger aircraft such as the DC-3 and Vickers Viscount.
With the outbreak of World War II, the airline presence in Asia came to a relative halt, with many new flag carriers donating their aircraft for military aid and other uses. Following the end of the war in 1945, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on July 29, 1946 under the name Air India. After the independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by theGovernment of India. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International.
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