Himalayan Aviation () was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

based in India that operated in the northern parts of the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

until its nationalisation and merger into

Indian Airlines Indian Airlines was a state-owned airline in India that later became a division of Air India Limited before ultimately ceasing operations. It was based in Delhi and focused primarily on domestic routes, along with several international servic ...

in 1953. On 20 February 1950, Himalayan Aviation ran the first ever international flight from Nepal, from Gauchar, Nepal, to Calcutta, India. Himalayan Aviation began with chartered flights. Over time, it expanded to night-mail services and scheduled passenger flights. In order to maximize revenue, it began taking on passengers on its night-mail flights as well. On 7 December 1951, Pakistan detained a Himalayan Aviation flight from Ahmedabad, India, to Kabul, Afghanistan, at the stopover point in Karachi. Pakistan had previously denied use of the direct Delhi-Kabul air-corridor that overflew the

North West Frontier Province The North-West Frontier Province (NWFP; ) was a province of British India from 1901 to 1947, of the Dominion of Pakistan from 1947 to 1955, and of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan from 1970 to 2010. It was established on 9 November 1901 from ...

. India and Pakistan had worked out an alternative Ahmadabad-Karachi-

Zahedan Zahedan (Balochi language, Balochi and ; ) is a city in the Central District (Zahedan County), Central District of Zahedan County, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran, serving as capital of the province, th ...

(Iran)-Kabul route.

Fleet

The fleet mostly consisted of

Douglas DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

aircraft.

References

Defunct airlines of India Companies based in Kolkata Airlines established in 1948 Airlines disestablished in 1953 Indian companies established in 1948 1953 disestablishments in India 1948 establishments in West Bengal Indian Airlines {{India-transport-stub