Air India began in 1932 as Tata Airlines before becoming India’s national carrier.
Tata Airlines was established by J. R. D. Tata and started operations in 1932. Its early services carried mail and passengers within British India, linking cities such as Karachi, Ahmedabad, Bombay, and Madras. The enterprise grew from a small aviation venture into a major international airline.
The company was renamed Air India in 1946. After Indian independence, the government nationalized the airline in 1953, and Air India became India’s principal international flag carrier. It remained state-owned for decades before returning to the Tata Group in 2022.
Air India is sometimes confused with newer Indian airlines such as IndiGo or Vistara. Those carriers were founded much later. The Tata Airlines origin is a specific part of Air India’s history and connects the airline to one of India’s best-known business groups.