Flashback: A national airline
Airhostesses for PIA being trained in PIA Ground Training School’s languages laboratory in Karachi in 1974
Airhostesses for Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) being trained in the PIA Ground Training School’s languages laboratory in Karachi in 1974. In June 1946, Mohammad Ali Jinnah instructed M A Ispahani to set up a national airline.
Initially registered as a pilot project in Calcutta, Orient Airways Ltd, created on 23rd October 1946, had at its helm M A Ispahani as Chairman. The carrier's base remained in Calcutta and four Douglas DC-3s were purchased in February 1947. The designated route was Calcutta-Akyab-Rangoon, the first post-war international sector to be flown by an airline registered in India. In 1955, the government 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, through the PIAC Ordinance 1955.
This August, The Express Tribune will feature photographs from contributions to an open call for images from the struggle for independence and Pakistan’s formative years.
PHOTO & TEXT: PAKISTAN PICTORIAL/ TWO YEARS OF PEOPLE’S RULE
CONCEPT: SANAM MAHER
DESIGN: SAMRA AMIR
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2014.
Initially registered as a pilot project in Calcutta, Orient Airways Ltd, created on 23rd October 1946, had at its helm M A Ispahani as Chairman. The carrier's base remained in Calcutta and four Douglas DC-3s were purchased in February 1947. The designated route was Calcutta-Akyab-Rangoon, the first post-war international sector to be flown by an airline registered in India. In 1955, the government 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, through the PIAC Ordinance 1955.
This August, The Express Tribune will feature photographs from contributions to an open call for images from the struggle for independence and Pakistan’s formative years.
PHOTO & TEXT: PAKISTAN PICTORIAL/ TWO YEARS OF PEOPLE’S RULE
CONCEPT: SANAM MAHER
DESIGN: SAMRA AMIR
Published in The Express Tribune, August 15th, 2014.