The company was started by Govan Bros Ltd. in May 1933 with a capital of Rs. 3 million. It became the second airline to start operations in India in December 1933, with weekly passenger and freight services from
Calcutta to
Rangoon and
Dhaka. It also started a weekly service between
Karachi and
Lahore, a feeder service for
Imperial Airways. By 1937 the airline had clocked over a million miles and made a slender annual profit. The airline was awarded another government contract in 1938 under the
Empire Air Mail Scheme for carrying first class mail on the
Karachi -
Lahore and
Karachi -
Colombo routes for a period of ten years along with
Tata Airlines. This was a major boost for aviation in India. As this contract promised a minimum income along with an operating subsidy, the company was able to expand and renovate its fleet. During
World War II, all mail contracts were suspended and aircraft put under government disposal. Only spare capacity was allowed for commercial use, which affected the industry on the whole. Govan Bros Ltd. and all its businesses, including Indian National Airways Ltd, was sold to the Ramkrishna Dalmia led
Dalmia Group on 4 July 1946. As of 1947, the airline had a fleet of six
Vickers Vikings with another nine
De Havilland Doves on order. The company also bought some war-surplus
Douglas DC-3 aircraft from the United States of America at the end of the war. In 1953, Indian National Airways was nationalised and merged into
Indian Airlines. ==References==