Today, Air India is celebrating 72 years since its first international flight. Its very first overseas service took place on June 8th, 1948. The milestone comes as commercial flights to and from India remain banned due to the current crisis.Indian airlines are currently restricted in the flights that they can operate. While the country has allowed domestic flights to resume, international flights are mostly off-limits. An exception exists for a limited schedule of government-sanctioned repatriation flights to India. While it remains unclear when international flights will resume, many are eagerly waiting for the opportunity to return to India.

72 years of international flights

Today marks the 72nd anniversary of Air India's international flights. The first service that the Indian carrier operated flew from Bombay to London. However, unlike today's direct non-stop flights, this flight was not undertaken in one hop.

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Indeed, it took three stops to complete the 5,000-mile journey to London in 1948. The flight first operated from Bombay (Mumbai) to Cairo, the longest leg at around 2,700 miles. The second leg saw a slightly shorter 1,760 mile hop from Cairo to Geneva.

Finally, the aircraft completed its shortest flight of the journey, just under 500 miles to London. Although the plane departed India on June 8th, it didn't arrive in London until June 10th. The route now takes around ten hours non-stop.

The aircraft details

The flight was operated by an Air India Lockheed L-749 Constellation aircraft. With the registration VT-CQP, the plane was known as the Malabar Princess. According to Hardeep Singh Puri, India's Minister for Civil Aviation, 35 passengers were on the flight, including the famous Indian aviator J.R.D. Tata.

Unfortunately, the original aircraft that operated Air India's first international flight is no more. It was destroyed flying the same route just over two years later. On the leg between Cairo and Geneva, the aircraft crashed into Mont Blanc on its descent. All 48 onboard perished in the accident.

The future

Despite the pandemic-induced aviation crisis, it looks as though international flights from India will continue to flourish. Before the crisis, Air India was in the process of launching several new routes to London.

The airline initially launched a new connection between Amritsar and London Stansted. This was the first direct connection between the two cities, which had a substantial pre-existing demand. The airline then added further flights from Mumbai to Stansted in early 2020. The route allowed it to increase its capacity to London, without acquiring additional pricy London Heathrow slots.

Last week, we also heard from IndiGo's CEO, Ronojoy Dutta, who commented that the very nature of Indian travel would mean that the country's industry is uniquely placed to come out of the current crisis stronger. He additionally sees vast potential for international expansion.

How well do you think Indian aviation will recover? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!