Indian Airways
Travelling in air find place in almost all Hindu epics. The Mahabharata and Ramayana speak a number of times about some sort of an aircraft (Vimana).
The first service carrying mail from London was operated by Puss Moth and flown from Karachi to Bombay. The inaugural commercial air service between London and Delhi was flown by De Havill in 66 Hercules on 30th Dec 1929. This flight made 29 stops during the 12 day flight (flying time of 56 hour 40 minute).
Indian Airlines, private scheduled airlines and air taxis provide domestic air services. Air India and other foreign airlines provides international service. Pawan Hans Helicopters Ltd runs helos to ONGC shore operations, Arunachal Pradesh and to inaccessible areas and difficult terrain.
Air India : In July 1946 TATA Airlines were converted into a public limited company under the name Air India. In 1953, it was declared as the National carrier. India has bilateral air service with around 100 countries and carries more than 3 million passengers a year (www.airindia.com).
Indian Airlines provides service to 14 neighbouring countries. It operates over 72 destinations including 16 abroad. There is 50 % concession for Armed forces personnel, Senior citizens, blind, cancer patients and students for domestic travel. Different unlimited travel plans are also available for tourists.
The four main International airports are at New Delhi (www.delhiairport.com), Kolkata, Mumbai (www.mumbaiairport.com) and Chennai (www.chennaiairport.com). For details visit www.indianairports.com
Major Airports of India with code
Agartala (IXA), Agatti (AGX), Agra (AGR), Ahmedabad (AMD) *, Aizawl (AJL), Amritsar (ATO)*, Aurangabad (IXU), Bagdogra (IXB), Bangalore (BLR)*, Belgaum (IXG), Bhopal (BHO), Bhubaneshwar (BBI), Chandigarh (IXC), Chennai (MAA) *, Coimbatore (CJB), Delhi (DEL)*, Dehra Dun (DED), Dibrugarh (DIB), Dimapur (DMU), Gaya (Gay), Goa (GOI)*, Guwahati (GAU)*, Hubli (HBX), Hyderabad (HYD)*, Imphal (IMF), Indore (IDR), Jabalpur (JLR), Jaipur (JaI), Jammu (IXJ), Jamnagar (JGA), Jamshedpur (IXW), Jodhpur (JDH), Jorhat (JRH), Kanpur (KNU), Kochi (COK) *, Kolhapur (KLH), Kolkata (CCU) *, Kozhikode (CCJ), Leh (IXL), Lilabari (IXI), Lucknow (LKO), Madurai (IXM), Mangalore (IXE), Mumbai (BOM) *, Nagpur (NAG), Patna (PAT), Port Blair (IXZ), Pune (PNQ), Raipur (RPR), Rajkot (RAJ), Ranchi (IXR), Shillong (SHL), Silchar (IXS), Srinagar (SXR), Surat (STV), Tezpur (TEZ), Thiruvananthapuram (TRV)*, Tiruchirapalli (TRZ), Tirupati (TIR), Udaipur (UDR), Vadodara (BDQ), Varanasi (VNS), Vijaywada (VGA), Visakhapatnam (VTZ).
* Denotes International Airport
Distances from the Airport to the city
| Airport |
Distance in km |
| Agra |
7 |
| Ahmedabad |
10 |
| Amritsar |
11 |
| Aurangabad |
10 |
| Bagdogra |
14 |
| Bangalore |
13 |
| Belgaum |
14 |
| Bhavnagar |
5 |
| Bhopal |
11 |
| Bhubaneshwar |
4 |
| Mumbai |
26 |
| Kolkatta |
16 |
| Chandigarh |
11 |
| Jaipur |
15 |
|
| Airport |
Distance in km |
| Jodhpur |
5 |
| Jorhat |
6 |
| Keshod |
3 |
| Khajuraho |
5 |
| Leh |
8 |
| Lucknow |
15 |
| Madurai |
12 |
| Chennai |
16 |
| Nagpur |
10 |
| Patna |
7 |
| Porbandar |
4 |
| Port Blair |
4 |
| Kochi |
28 |
| Coimbatore |
23 |
|
| Airport |
Distance in km |
| Dabolim (Goa) |
30 |
| Delhi |
13 |
| Gorakhpur |
7 |
| Guwahati |
22 |
| Gwalior |
12 |
| Indore |
9 |
| Jabalpur |
15 |
| Pune |
8 |
| Srinagar |
14 |
| Trichy |
8 |
| Thiruvananthapuram |
7 |
| Udaipur |
24 |
| Varanasi |
22 |
| Visakhapatnam |
14 |
|
Foreign carriers operated in India are
Aeroflot, Moscow (Code SU)
Air Canada, Vancouver (Code AC)
Air France, Paris (Code AF)
Alitalia, Rome (Code AZ)
Austrian Airlines, Vienna (Code OS)
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Dhaka (Code BG)
British Airways, London (Code BA)
Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong (Code CX)
Druk Air, Paro (Code KB)
El Al Israel Airlines, Tel Aviv (Code LY)
Emirates, Dubai (Code EK)
Gulf Air, Bahrain (Code GF)
Indian Airlines, New Delhi (Code IC)
Iran Air, Tehran (Code IR)
Japan Airlines (Code JL)
Kenya Airways, Nairobi (Code KQ)
KLM-Royal Dutch Airlines, Amsterdam (Code KL)
Kuwait Airways (Code KU)
Lufthansa Airlines, Frankfurt (Code LH)
Malaysia Airlines, Kuala Lumpur (Code MH)
Pakistan International Airlines, Karachi (Code PK)
Qantas Airways, Sydney (Code QF)
Royal Nepal Airlines Corporation, Kathmandu (Code RA )
Saudia Arabian Airlines, Ar-Riyadh (Code SV)
Sri Lankan Airlines, Colombo (Code UL)
Swiss International Airlines, Zurich (Code LX)
Thai Airways International, Bangkok (Code TG)
For Domestic air travel in India
Air India, the national carrier
Air Deccan for cheap and comfortable air travel
Jet Airways, India's best airline with a modern fleet
Kingfisher
Go Air
Spicejet
Check in is an hour before departure. The baggage is 20 kg per passenger. For more information read the information given in the travel ticket or visit the site of the company. For unlimited air travel, one can have Indian Airlines 'Discover India' pass at $630/895 for 15/21 days. Jet Airways also has similar plan.
