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Revision as of 20:52, 10 July 2006 by Edcolins (talk | contribs) (removed useless lk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Orient Airways Ltd., registered in Calcutta city of British India on 23rd October 1946. With Mirza Ahmad Ispahani the Chairman and Air Vice Marshal O.K. Carter as the General Manager of the new air carrier, an operating license was obtained in May 1947 with Calcutta as the base. Four Douglas DC-3s had been purchased from Tempo of Texas in February 1947 and operations first started on 4 June 1947. The designated route was Calcutta-Akyab-Rangoon, which also happened to be the first post-war international operation to be flown by an airline registered in India. Within two months of Orient Airways' operational beginnings, Pakistan was born. The birth of a new nation generated one of the largest transfers of population in the history of Mankind.
Orient Airways, along with the help of some BOAC aircraft which had been chartered by the Government of Pakistan, started relief operations and transportation of the population between Delhi and Karachi, the two capitals. Later, Orient Airways transferred its base to Pakistan and established the vital, link between Karachi and Dacca, the two capitals of the two wings of Pakistan. With a skeleton fleet of just two DC-3s, three crew and twelve mechanics, Orient Airways launched its scheduled operations in a fairy-tale fashion. The initial routes were Karachi-Lahore-Peshawar, Karachi-Quetta-Lahore and Karachi-Delhi- Calcutta-Dacca. By the end of 1949, Orient Airways had acquired 10 DC-3s and 3 Convair 240s which it operated on these routes. In 1950, it had become increasingly apparent that additional capacity would have to be inducted in order to cater to the growing needs of the sub-continent.
Orient Airways was a privately owned company, with limited capital and resources. It could not be expected to grow and expand on its own. It was then that the Government of Pakistan decided to form a state-owned airline and invited Orient Airways to merge with it. The outcome of the merger was the birth of a new airline, named Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on 11 March, 1955.
See also
| Airlines of Pakistan | |
|---|---|
| Full service | |
| Low cost | |
| Cargo | |
| Defunct | |