Deccan Airways Limited

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Not to be confused with Air Deccan.

Deccan Airways
AirTicket Deccan Airways 1952 1.JPG
FoundedSeptember 1945 (September 1945)[1]
Commenced operationsJuly 1946
Ceased operations1953
HubsBegumpet Airport
HeadquartersHyderabad

Deccan Airways Limited was a commercial airline based at Begumpet Airport[2] in the erstwhile Hyderabad State. It was owned by the Nizam of Hyderabad and Tata Airlines.[3]

History[]

Founded in 1945, it was one of the nine airlines existing in India during independence. The airline was a joint venture of Nizam Government of erstwhile Hyderabad State and Tata Airlines. 71 per cent of Deccan Airways was owned by the Nizam's Government and the rest was owned by Tata Sons and others. Commercial operations were launched with a fleet of three aircraft in July 1946, operating a twice weekly service between Madras and Delhi, with halts at Hyderabad, Nagpur, Bhopal and Gwalior. It also flew a twice weekly Hyderabad-Bangalore flight.[4] By March 1947, the airline had seven aircraft in its fleet and was operating the Madras- Delhi flight daily as well as a daily Hyderabad - Bombay flight.[5] Between July 1946, and May 1947, the airline had carried more than Eleven thousand passengers, apart from 51 tonnes of freight, and almost seven tonnes of mail.[6]

The seventh Nizam, Mir Osman Ali Khan, along with some aides takes his first ride in a Deccan Airways Dakota from Begumpet airport

Post-Annexation[]

After Operation Polo for annexing Hyderabad State, the airline ownership changed to Government of India. By 1952 Government of India held 78% of shares of Deccan Airways. The shares were acquired from the Hyderabad Government & Nizam State Railways. 13% of the shares was still held by Tatas & 9% by the general public[7]

Nationalization[]

In 1953 Deccan Airways Limited along with seven other airlines under the Air Corporations Act were merged to form a single domestic carrier, Indian Airlines. After this on 10 October 1953, Deccan Airways resigned its associate membership of IATA.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

Fleet[]

By the time it was merged with Indian Airlines in 1953, it had a fleet of thirteen Douglas DC-3 'Dakota' aircraft. The DC-3 aircraft were brought from US Air Force at a throw away price after they were left unused at Assam after World War 2.

Accidents and incidents[]

5 April 1950
A Deccan Airways C-47A (registration VT-CJD) crashed at Hatiara, while attempting to return to Dum Dum Airport after an engine failed, killing all three crew;[14]
21 November 1951
A Deccan Airways C-47A (registration VT-AUO) crashed at Dum Dum Airport, while attempting to attempt to land was made in extremely poor visibility conditions, killing all four crew and thirteen passengers;[15]
19 February 1952
A Deccan Airways C-47A (registration VT-AXE) crashed on landing at Sonegaon Airport due to pilot error and possible misread altimeter, killing three of 16 on board.[16]
30 April 1952
A Deccan Airways C-47A (registration VT-AUN) crashed at Safdarjung Airport, Delhi due to engine failure, killing four crew and five passengers.[17]

See also[]

  • Category:Establishments in Hyderabad State

References[]

  1. ^ "A tome on the aviation history of the Deccan". The Hindu. 26 May 2001. Retrieved 15 February 2019.[dead link]
  2. ^ "Civil Aviation News". FlightGlobal. 10 January 1946. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  3. ^ "A Story of Flight". The Indian Express. 27 July 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Brevities". FlightGlobal. 1 August 1946. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Civil Aviation News". FlightGlobal. 13 March 1947. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  6. ^ "Brevities". FlightGlobal. 7 August 1947. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Economic Weekly" (PDF). The Economic Weekly. 29 March 1952. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Hyderabad, The City Of Wings As Well". The New Indian Express. 15 March 2014.
  9. ^ "100 Years of Civil Aviation in India - Milestones". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 25 January 2011.
  10. ^ "A tome on the aviation history of the Deccan". The Hindu. 25 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 August 2014.
  11. ^ "Commercial Aviation in India: A Multifaceted Story". India Strategic. March 2014.
  12. ^ "PM Reddy: An aviator and engineer par excellence". Times of India. 4 May 2014.
  13. ^ IATA Bulletin, Volume 15-22. International Air Transport Association. 1952. Retrieved 10 September 2009.
  14. ^ Accident description for VT-CJD at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 25 August 2014.
  15. ^ Accident description for VT-AUO at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 25 August 2014.
  16. ^ Accident description for VT-AXE at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 18 May 2013.
  17. ^ Accident description for VT-AUN at the Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved on 25 August 2014.
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