Asian Airline Industry

Air India Boeing 747-400. Founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932, it was one of the first airlines in Asia.
Some of the first countries in Asia to embrace air transport were India, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia , Pakistan and the Philippines.

One of the first countries in Asia to embrace air transport was the Philippines. Philippine Airlines was founded on February 26, 1941, making it one of Asia's oldest carriers and also the oldest operating under its current name. The airline was started by a group of businessmen led by Andres Soriano, hailed as one of the Philippines' leading industrialists at the time. The airline’s first flight was made on March 15, 1941 with a single Beech Model 18 NPC-54 aircraft, which started its daily services between Manila (from Nielson Field) and Baguio, later to expand with larger aircraft such as the DC-3 and Vickers Viscount.
Air India Boeing 747-400. Founded by J. R. D. Tata as Tata Airlines in 1932, it was one of the first airlines in Asia.

Another airline company to begin early operations was Air India, which had its beginning as Tata Airlines in 1932, a division of Tata Sons Ltd. (now Tata Group) by India's leading industrialist JRD Tata. On October 15, 1932, J. R. D. Tata himself flew a single engined De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail (postal mail of Imperial Airways) from Karachi to Bombay via Ahmedabad. The aircraft continued to Madras via Bellary piloted by Royal Air Force pilot Nevill Vincent.

With the outbreak of World War II, the airline presence in Asia came to a relative halt, with many new flag carriers donating their aircraft for military aid and other uses. Following the end of the war in 1945, regular commercial service was restored in India and Tata Airlines became a public limited company on July 29, 1946 under the name Air India. After the independence of India, 49% of the airline was acquired by the Government of India. In return, the airline was granted status to operate international services from India as the designated flag carrier under the name Air India International.

On July 31, 1946, a chartered Philippine Airlines (PAL) DC-4 ferried 40 American servicemen to Oakland, California from Nielson Airport in Makati City with stops in Guam, Wake Island, Johnston Atoll and Honolulu, Hawaii, making PAL the first Asian airline to cross the Pacific Ocean. A regular service between Manila and San Francisco was started in December. It was during this year that the airline was designated as the flag carrier of Philippines.

During the era of decolonization, newly-born Asian countries started to embrace air transport. Among the first Asian carriers during the era were Cathay Pacific (founded in September 1946), Orient Airways (later Pakistan International Airlines; founded in October 1946), Malayan Airlines (later Singapore and Malaysian Airlines; founded in 1947), Garuda Indonesia in 1949, Japan Airlines in 1951, and Korean Air in 1962.