AIR-INDIA

airline founded in 1932 (as Tata Airlines) and now an international airline owned by the Indian government and serving southern and east Asia, the Middle East, Europe, Africa, Australia, and New York. Headquarters are in Bombay. The first scheduled service was inaugurated in 1932 by J.R.D. Tata, flying mail and passengers between Karachi, Ahmadabad, Bombay, Bellary, and Madras. By 1939 routes had been extended to Trivandrum, Delhi, Colombo, Lahore, and intermediate points. After World War II, in 1946, Tata Airlines was converted into a public company and renamed Air-India Limited. Two years later, to inaugurate international services between Bombay and Cairo, Geneva, and London, Air-India International Limited was formed. In 1953 India nationalized all Indian airlines, creating two corporationsone for domestic service, called Indian Airlines Corporation (merging Air-India Limited with six lesser lines), and one for international service, Air-India International Corporation. The latter's name was abbreviated to Air-India in 1962. In the following decades, international routes were greatly extended to all continents except South America.