Air :Fifty years in Delhi

1932 Air Orient: Arrival in Jodhpur of the Fokker VII b.3m Gouache by Albert Brenet 1990

1 I Foreword by Jean-Cyril Spinetta, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of -KLM II Congratulations from Praful Patel, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation

Message from Patrick Alexandre, Executive Vice President, International Commercial Affairs III and Dominique Gass, Air France General Manager for

The Story 1. Key dates IV of Air France 2. The Pioneers: 1924-1955 in India C ontents 3. Air France in New Delhi: 1955-2005 V The Air France-KLM Alliance VI SkyTeam VII The -Charles de Gaulle Hub • Mrs Rekha Khosla,Director Indiatourism Paris • Arun Nanda,President of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry Personal • Sheela Mehta,President of the Air France Délégation Inde de l’Amicale VIII Experiences • Nalini Mitra,First Indian Hostess in Paris • Pierre Can: From the Dewoitine 338 to the Boeing 707 • Bernard Abouchar: Aerophilatelic Association of Air France

IX Acknowledgements

Air France’s long-haul network in 1947

2 3 Jean-Cyril Spinetta, The enthusiastic support of the Indian Civil Aviation Authorities and of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer important figures like the Maharajah of Jodhpur helped consolidate the of Air France-KLM operation and development of our routes to Asia. Air France felt duty bound to serve the capital of the Indian Union as As we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Air soon as possible after its independence was proclaimed on 15 August France service to New Delhi in 1955, it is my great pleasure to highlight 1947, with France being among the first countries to recognize it. the special ties between the Indian Union and France and to emphasize On being granted the necessary traffic rights, an Air France the decisive role that India has played in the development of Air France Constellation landed at New Delhi on 14 November 1955. in Asia. Since then, we have made enormous strides. Currently, Air France I could hardly find a more eminent figure to illustrate the friendly links operates a daily service to New Delhi with a direct flight from Paris in between our two countries than former Prime Minister, Mrs Indira less than 8 hours. Gandhi, a fluent French speaker, who spoke these words at her reception To keep pace with the tremendous expansion of the Indian economy, in by General de Gaulle during an international trip shortly after she was addition to its daily flights from New Delhi and Mumbai and its many elected to power: all-cargo flights, Air France launched services to Bangalore at the end of “In the past, India has played a similar role in Asia to that of France in October. It also serves Chennai under a code-share agreement with Europe, while Indian culture and society have influenced thinking and Delta , and Hyderabad under a code share with its sister , events in France. Similarly, in modern times, French writers and philo- KLM. sophers have influenced the minds of our own leaders. Our national independence movement was inspired by your ideas of Liberty, Equality As a result, I would today like to thank everyone involved in the air and Fraternity, which have become our watchwords. We therefore have transport industry: the Government Authorities, the Aviation and Jean-Cyril Spinetta a very special place in our hearts for France.” Airport Authorities, the network of travel agents and cargo forwarding Mutual respect and admiration have always prevailed between our two agents, as well as all our passengers, the overwhelming majority of nations and I am very pleased to note that our cultural and economic whom are today business men and women, whose trust and support exchanges are constantly advancing, partly as a result of the active pre- have placed Air France up among the very best airlines operating to and sence of Air France. from India. Our aviation ties go back many years, and India played a decisive role My thoughts also go to all Air France people in India, be they Indian or in the development of Air France in Asia. expatriates, who for over half a century have adjusted to changes in our The world’s first ever airmail service was flown on 18 February 1911 by products and have convinced their Indian compatriots to fly with a French pilot, Henri Piquet, who carried a 15 kg mailbag containing Air France. 6,000 letters and cards aboard a Sommer between Allahabad and Naini. Subsequently, in February 1930, Maurice Nogues, on behalf My most heartfelt thanks therefore go to all of you. You may rest assured of Lignes d’Orient, one of the Air France founding airlines, that we are doing everything in our power to continue satisfying you scouted an air route to East Asia stopping at Jodhpur, Allahabad and and contributing to the development of trade between India and the rest Calcutta. This route, known as the “India Route” and then the “Nogues of the world. Route”, became a scheduled route in August of that same year, 1930.

4 5 Praful Patel

6 7 New Delhi has moved on from being an intermediary stop on a multi-sector flight Air France in Asia and India to a major turnaround station for the Air France Asia network. Our activity as an airline operating out of India has undergone major changes. Message from Patrick Alexandre and Dominique Gass For a long time, Air France has offered its Indian customers many intermediary stops on its westbound flights including Teheran, Tel Aviv and Rome, with Bangkok, Saigon, Hong Kong, Manila and on its eastbound flights. Today we offer our Indian customers 17,900 weekly connections to all of Europe, , and the Asia has always been a major continent for Air France, hence making it one of its Americas via our Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub. key development areas. Along with KLM, Air France is a member of the SkyTeam Alliance, operating out In response to the growing demand, Air France is now operating 202 non-stop of India with seven of the nine members. weekly flights to 13 Asian countries covering 28 destinations. Cooperation between Air France and KLM dates back to the 1930s when we used the India offers a brilliant perspective in this development, as traffic is expected to same kind of aircraft, the Fokker 7. We also shared the same spare parts depot in the double by the year 2010, making a total of some 100 million passengers. airports of Jodhpur, Allahabad and Calcutta. In 2005 Air France operates out of five hubs in India. Air France offers daily Today, the sales forces of Air France and KLM and the airport staff have joined service from Delhi and Mumbai; a daily flight from Chennai to Paris (operated on forces in India to be able to serve their customers better. Air France also offers a joint a code-share basis with our partner Delta Airlines) since May 10, 2005, five weekly frequent flyer program, Flying Blue, thus offering the frequent Indian customer a flights between Karnataka’s capital Bangalore and Paris since October 31, 2005; wide choice of services and Miles, enabling them to attain Elite status even faster. finally at the end of November there will be non-stop service from Andhra Pradesh’s Customers therefore benefit from many privileges before, during and after the flight. Patrick Alexandre largest metropolitan city and capital Hyderabad to Europe with 2 flights per week. Dominique Gass, Executive Vice President International Air France credits its success and all the fundamentals of its development to the Air France General Manager for India Commercial Affairs This significant development is due to the long and constructive presence of Air different players in the aviation industry in India: the Civil Aviation Authorities, the with Jean-Louis Pinson, France in India. However, even as we celebrate the 50th anniversary of our presen- Airport Authorities of India, the immigration and customs services, the tourism Senior Vice President Asia-Pacific ce in Delhi, we must not forget that Air Orient, one of the five founding airlines of board of India, the travel agency network, the cargo agents and naturally its custo- Air France, was already operating two flights a month from Paris to Saigon, trans- mers. iting in Jodhpur, Allahabad and Calcutta in India, in the year 1930. After its foun- dation, Air France naturally took over this route. We would also like to pay homage to the men and women of Air France who have learnt to adapt to our changing products and to successfully retain the loyalty of This commemorative booklet takes a look at the “pioneering period” before retracing Indian customers by proposing a wide spectrum of products and services. the history of Air France in Delhi. Our thanks go to all of them, and they may be sure that we will do our utmost to The evolution of air transport has been spectacular: in 1930 it took seven days to fly deserve their confidence. from India to Paris. In 1955 the journey from Delhi to Paris took 25 hours with three stopovers. Today the Air France non-stop flight departs from Delhi and arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle in only 8 hours and 30 minutes.

8 9 Calcutta-Paris service and as from 1955, Take-off Cruising Number Duration Delhi-Paris Year Flights/week Aircraft weight (kg) speed of stopovers of travel 1938 1 Dewoïtine 338 11,500 290 12 5 Days Key dates 1953 1 Constellation 47,630 470 3 27h35 1957 2 Super Constellation 62,300 530 4 24h20 in the 1963 2 Boeing 707 146,000 900 3 14h35 history 1975 3 Boeing 747 - 200 310,000 900 2 12h50 of Air France in India 2005 7 Boeing 747 - 400 396,800 912 0 8h30

The Pioneers April 1924 First France-India flight operated with the Brochure on services Caudron G4 on an air rally from Paris to to Eastern Europe Lockheed L.749 Tokyo in 47 days. and the Far East Constellation (1946-1962) March 29, 1927 Creation of “Air Union Lignes d’Orient” February 12 to March 10, 1930 Air Union Lignes d’Orient operates a test flight Paris-Saigon-Hanoi via India with a Farman 190 aircraft. 1 August 30, 1930 Air Orient inaugurates a regular twice- monthly France–Indochina service (for passengers and mail). Jodhpur, Allahabad and Calcutta are among the Far East poster by Ray-Bret-Koch, printed in 1938, 18 stops between Paris and Saigon. showing the “India Route” 10 11 May 5, 1932 November 16, 1944 Summer, 1950 The France-Indochina service becomes wee- Air France resumes activity on January 2, Air France increases its service to Calcutta kly. India has one flight a week. 1946. Certain long-haul flights are operated with 5 weekly flights, including one operated for military purposes only. The RLAF* opera- with the new four-engined Lockheed August 1933 tes one weekly flight between France and Constellation. Air Orient is one of the 5 airlines to merge to Indochina with stops in Delhi and Calcutta. form Air France. Air France continues to *Reseau des lignes aeriennes francaises Winter, 1950-51 operate from Paris to Saigon with the same (French air route network) UAT, a private French airline, which became 3 intermediary stops in India. UTA in 1962 and was to be taken over by 1 Air France in 1992, operates one flight to August 4, 1938 June 11, 1946 Delhi and Calcutta with the DC4. 2 Air France resumes its flights to India with a The France-Indochina route is extended to weekly DC4 service to Saigon with a stopover Hong Kong, using the Dewoitine 338. in Calcutta. Summer, 1952 Air France offers five flights a week to September 2, 1939 Summer, 1947 Calcutta on its Indochina route, all using the Constellation. Air France suspends all its services. 6 flights a month to Calcutta on the Paris- Saigon route. Summer, 1953 Summer, 1948 The Calcutta service is reduced to three wee- Calcutta benefits from a weekly service with kly Constellation flights, before being restored the DC4. to four flights a week in the summer of 1954. Summer, 1954 Air France flights transiting in Calcutta are reduced to three flights a week with effect from 3 winter 1954-55. (1) Douglas DC4

(2) Dewoïtine 338 (1936-1947)

(3) Lockheed L.749 "Constellation" (1946-1962)

12 13 Air France Boeing 707 Intercontinental in flight (1965) Flying from New Delhi November 14, 1955 Winter, 1961 Air France launches a new weekly Paris- The New Delhi flights increase from two to 1955-2005 Delhi service using the Constellation. three times a week and Calcutta continues to Calcutta continues to be served twice weekly be served once weekly. with the Super Constellation. 1967 April 1958 Opening of the Mumbai route (one flight a The three Air France weekly flights transiting week) replacing the Calcutta service. in India are operated with the Super Constellation: two with stopovers in New April 1969 Delhi and one in Calcutta when flying east- bound, and two stops in Calcutta and one in Mumbai is served twice a week and Delhi Delhi when flying westbound. three times. April 1972 Summer, 1959 Introduction of the long-haul wide bodied Air France flights transiting in India serve Boeing 747.100, which operates three of the Delhi twice-weekly and Calcutta once-weekly. five weekly flights of Air France to India. November 1960 April 1973 The Super Constellation is replaced by a new Flights to Mumbai increase from two to three four-engined jet, the Boeing 707, operating a week. three times weekly to India.

Brochure promoting Pilots and cabin crew of the Air France Boeing 707 on the Asia route (1965) the Super Constellation (1953)

14 15 November 1, 1974 Autumn, 1983 Summer, 1998 All flights from India land in Paris at the new Opening of the Hotel Méridien in New Increase in Air France service from India from Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport situated Delhi. seven to nine weekly flights. north of the French capital. Summer, 1984 Summer, 2000 1977 Introduction of the Boeing 747 Combi, Air France daily flight from Delhi lands at the Boeing 747.100 operated on all six weekly offering 176 seats and a cargo capacity of 30 new Terminal 2F of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Air France flights departing from India. tonnes. Airport. Summer, 1979 Summer, 1987 December 2000 First Super Pelican 747 weekly freighter One daily Air France flight from India Six Air France flights to Mumbai. service from Delhi. (four from Delhi and three from Mumbai). Summer, 2002 Summer, 1980 May 1989 Two daily Air France flights from India: Flights to Delhi increase from three to four a All Air France flights departing from India to one from New Delhi and one from Mumbai week. Paris-Charles de Gaulle are non-stop. in cooperation with Skyteam partner Delta.

Summer, 1981 1991 May 10, 2005 Two of the three flights from Mumbai to Paris Second Boeing 747 freighter flight from Introduction of a new service to Chennai. are non-stop. Mumbai. October 30, 2005 Summer, 1982 Summer, 1995 Introduction of a new service to Bangalore. First non-stop flight between Delhi and Delhi and Mumbai become turnaround Paris. Transfers of all flights to India to the stations. November 2005 new Air France private terminal, Paris- Introduction of a new service to Hyderabad. Charles de Gaulle 2. Autumn, 1995 Introduction of the A340.300 with the new Take-off of an Airbus A340.400 inflight service, Espace180, Espace127 and Tempo.

Front cover of a First Class menu - 1959

16 17 The pioneers: 1911-1954, the Nogues Route

` The history of fifty years of Air France Henri Piquet carried the world’s first offi- service to New Delhi owes a great deal to cial mail by plane on February 18, 1911. the pioneers of this route who worked A postal bag weighing fifteen kilos contai- relentlessly to establish a regular service, ning six thousand letters and cards were thus paving the way for today’s opera- transported on board a Sommer biplane tions. (50hp Gnome engine) between Allahabad and Naini Fort, thus flying a distance of 2 thirty kms. Henri Piquet put this aircraft together in India (it had arrived in a woo- den crate by boat from Paris), and took off from a polo pitch. He wore a watch on his right wrist and strapped an altimeter to his left knee. The commemorative stamp prin- ted to mark this occasion strangely shows the aircraft flying over mountains, whereas the flight actually took place over the Yamuna river.

The end of the First World War freed up thousands of aircrafts and pilots. Many Air France route to the Far East (winter 1935-1936) flights were launched as early as 1919 with Poulet and Benoit, who, taking off from Poster printed in 1939 showing the Nogues Route, designed by N. Gerale 18 19 Air France Issy-les-Moulineaux, on October 14 on “We would leave early morning at two or Passengers from Paris travelled by train to ticket office board the timeworn Caudron G4, arrived three o’clock and would land in the evening Avignon, where a bus drove them to in Calcutta in Rangoon 47 days later. Pelletier Doisy, after having flown 10 to 13 hours. The Marseille-Marignane. A twin-engined sea- during the 1950s who took off from Villacoublay on April 24, flights were carried out in conditions where plane, the CAMS-53, was operated between 1924, on board a Breguet 19, reached India the two main factors were altitude and Marseille and Beirut for postal services, and and then Tokyo on June 9, 1924. wind, which depended on the weather. a single-engined FARMAN F190 for pas- sengers with a seating capacity for four. The One man particularly influenced this per- The speed of the aircraft would oscillate bet- successive stops were Naples, Corfu, Athens iod: Maurice Nogues. Former chief pilot of ween 130 and 150 kms an hour. With wind and Castel Rosso. The Damascus-Beirut CIDNA, he joined the “Compagnies des speeds of 30 to 40 kms per hour, we had to route was then by road. Messageries Transaeriennes”. He took off on “hedgehop” and keep within an altitude August 30, 1926 in a small named range of 300-400 meters. At these altitudes The triple-engined Fokker VII was used on “Schreck” from Argenteuil in France, and and even much higher, the continuous tur- flights going beyond Damascus due to the flew south for a reconnaissance flight with bulence would aggravate the flight condi- difficult conditions of travel and to ensure his engineer and teammate Morin. tions. We would fly as long as 9-13 hours maximum security in desert regions. The per day. stopovers comprised Baghdad, Bouchir, The flights to the Far East heralded a new Djask, Karachi, Jodhpur, Allahabad, era, which was synonymous with Maurice Calcutta, Akyab, Rangoon, and Bangkok, Nogues. The en-route stations could not provide any before arriving at Saigon, the final destina- technical assistance. Therefore all mainte- tion. In October 1927, Nogues carried out the nance of the aircraft had to be done by the first test flight to the Far East: Marseilles/La flight engineer, helped by the pilot and radio This service was twice-monthly before Ciotat - Naples - Corfou - Athens - Castel operator. A small quantity of spare parts becoming weekly on April 23, 1932. Rosso - Famagouste - Beirut on behalf of was all that was available on board. For Air Union Lignes d’Orient which took over important parts an agreement was reached with KLM, which had the same aircraft and The “India Route” spanning over from Compagnies des Messageries Trans- 12,000 kms including eight rivers, eleven Maurice Nogues aeriennes in March 1927. engines, under which we would have a com- mon depot of spare parts at each station. seas, thirteen mountains and three deserts, The technicians of both companies had the was covered in ten days. From February 12 to March 9, 1930, keys to the chest, which would be replenis- Nogues performed a test flight lasting 23 hed by the next incoming aircraft.” The flights mainly took place during the day days on a Farman 190 between Paris and and wherever possible, any sea overflying Indochina with stopovers in Jodhpur, Air Orient, a new airline created by the was over the coastline. During stopovers at Allahabad and Calcutta. merger between Air Union Lignes d’Orient night, passengers and crew stayed at the and Air Asie on August 30, 1930, started same hotel, in the State Hotel in Jodhpur Jean Hennequin, a future chief pilot of Air operations on the Marseille - Saigon route and at the Great Eastern Hotel in Calcutta. Orient describes the conditions of the jour- on January 17, 1931. ney:

20 21 August 1933: Air Orient is one of the five August 4, 1938 the France-Indochina route In November 1950, the private French airli- French companies which merged to form was further extended to Hong Kong with a ne UAT, later to become UTA in 1962, Air France. Air France resumed the France- stop at Bayard Fort. This flight was operated started up weekly operations by DC4 Indochina route and for the first time flew to with a new triple-engined Dewoitine 338, between Paris- and Saigon with India with a once-weekly flight. with a cruising speed of 260 km/h and an a stopover at Palam Airport in Delhi and operating range of 1,950 kms. This aircraft Calcutta. These services were suspended in The Air France winter 1933-34 flight sche- had twelve seats and could ferry 400 kilos of October 1952. dule promoted flights to the Far East as fol- cargo. The flights from France to India took lows: five days. Once again Air France upped its service to Calcutta. In summer 1952, five flights were “The cabins are equipped with comfortable September 2, 1939: Air France suspended all operated with the Constellation. However, seats and have a toilet and a washbasin. The its flights, including those to the Far East, on they were progressively reduced to three speed of our aircraft has reduced the flight the first day of the outbreak of World War II. weekly Constellation flights in summer time, thus avoiding unnecessary fatigue to 1955. our customers and giving them plenty of June 11, 1946: Air France resumed its time to visit the interesting sights along the flights to the Far East, initially with a DC3 Air France moved its offices in Calcutta route (Naples, Athens, Rangoon, Bangkok, and later with a DC4. The weekly Paris- from Ezra Mansions in Waterloo Street to Angkor, as an option).” Saigon flight stopped in Tunis, Cairo, Victoria House, Chowringhee Square. Bassora, Karachi and finally Calcutta. Air France long-haul flights left Paris from Air France was represented by the Sanghi the new Orly airport south of Paris. Brothers in Jodhpur, by Steel and Co. in Allahabad and by Messageries Maritimes in Calcutta. Flights to Calcutta increased to six a month in summer 1947, two per week in summer The technical progress offered by the new 1948, then five per week in summer 1950. types of aircraft, the operational expertise of One of the aircraft used for the five flights the pilots and the technicians and the intro- was the Lockheed L749 Constellation, the duction of ground services all contributed to most efficient aircraft of its time, with a improving travel conditions: flight time bet- speed of 480 kms/hr, a cruising altitude of ween Calcutta and Paris was reduced from 6,000 meters and a pressurized cabin. seven days in 1931 to five days in 1938. Calcutta was then less than 28hr 50min from Paris compared to seven days in 1931! Poster designed by Bernard Villermot The Constellation had two classes; a first printed in 1956 class equipped with reclining seats and the tourist class. Meal on board the Super Constellation

22 23 Sleeper compartments on board the Super Constellation (Air France brochure) Flying from New Delhi: 1955-2005 Indian Independence on August 15, 1947 On November 14, 1955 an Air France and the proclamation of the Indian Union Constellation landed at Palam Airport for on January 26, 1950 confirmed the impor- the first time, on a weekly flight. The stops on tance of Delhi, its capital. French authori- the westbound flight were Karachi, Beirut, ties and Air France immediately started Nice and Orly Paris, and Saigon and Hong negotiations to operate flights to New Delhi Kong on the eastbound flight. One of the two in addition to Calcutta. It was only in aircraft operated to Calcutta was a Lockheed autumn 1955 that Air France finally succee- L1049 Super Constellation or Super G. ded in operating flights to the capital of This aircraft was faster (530 kms/hr instead 3 India. of 480 kms/hr) and larger (maximum capa- city of 92 passengers instead of 62). Its inflight product was even more comfortable. The first class was equipped with seat-beds, and one of the new features was a compart- ment with berths. The cities served by the westbound flights were Karachi (two flights), Baghdad (1), Damascus (1), Beirut (1), Rome (1), Frankfurt (1), Nice (1) and Paris Orly (2) and by the eastbound flights, Saigon (2), Manila (1) and Tokyo (1).

One of the main features of flights to the Far East via India was the large number of cities Leaflet promoting the Super Constellation served on either eastbound and westbound flights, depending on the range of the aircraft

24 25 used (increasingly longer operating range), June 04, 1957: The Super Constellation In November 1960, a major new feature the potential of passenger and cargo traffic aircraft operated the weekly flight transiting appeared on the Air France route to India: (still increasing and contingent on the deve- in New Delhi. the arrival of a four-engined jet, the Boeing lopment of economic and touristic exchan- 707 “Intercontinental”. Its speed (900 ges) and on the traffic rights granted by the In April 1958, all three flights were operated kms/hr), its cruising altitude (10,000 m) and Civil Aviation Authorities of the countries with Super Constellations. Out went the seat its seating capacity (189 passengers) changed concerned. In the case of India, the authori- beds! Two eastbound flights transited in the face of air transport. ties adopted a liberal approach to the deve- Delhi and one transited in Calcutta. lopment of international air transport. On Westbound, one flight transited in Delhi and The Air France Boeing 707s were equipped the commercial front, the sales network, cus- two transited in Calcutta. with two classes: First class with 24 seats in tomers and Air France personnel showed six rows of four, and Economy (new name for initiative in adapting to the constantly chan- In April 1959, service to India remained the tourist class) in 20 rows of three by three ging schedules, and contributed to the route with an aisle in the middle (120 passengers). economy by making full use of the potential stable; New Delhi was served twice weekly of the flights offered from India. and Calcutta once weekly.

In summer 1956 until summer 1957, a spe- In autumn 1959, the Air France timetable cial service that supplemented the “Champs incorporated and flights. Elysees” product was put in place - the These airlines were in talks with Air France “Eastern Epicurean” service - on one of the and Sabena in an aborted bid to create an Inauguration of Air France’s ticket office in Scindia House (1957) two flights to Calcutta. Air Union association. Air France was the sales agent for these three partner companies, and the sales office at the Ashoka Hotel spor- In April 1957, Air France New Delhi offices ted all three signs. Airlines later joined which were situated on the premises of the same association. Escort, in the Pratan Building in Connaught Place, moved to Scindia House on Connaught Circus. In 1964, the Vice The Air France flights had a double designa- President of the Indian Republic, Mr. Zakir tion Air France-TAI (AF/TI). TAI (Trans- Husain inaugurated the brand new Air ports Aériens Intercontinentaux), another France ticket office. It is in this same building French international airline, merged in 1962 that the Air France Regional Management with a third French airline, UAT (Union grouped all its services, with its ticket office Aéronautique de Transport) later to become on the first floor where it still is today. UTA (Union de Transports Aériens) before being taken over by Air France in 1992.

Poster for Asia by Andre Golven, printed in 1950

26 27 The 1960s in Karachi (2 flights) Dhahran (1) Beirut (2) Manila (1) Hong Kong (1) and Tokyo (1) Athens (2) and Paris Orly (2) when (2) when eastbound. The stopover in Starting in winter 1960, the three Air France westbound and Bangkok (2 flights) Saigon Calcutta was suspended in 1968. flights to India - two to Delhi and one to Calcutta - were operated by Boeing 707s. The westbound flight served Rome (2 flights Sales drive in India accommodation expenses (for a maximum weekly), Athens (1), Tel Aviv (1), Teheran 1/During the early decades of 24 hours) of its Indian transit passengers, (3) and Karachi (1) and and the eastbound mainly businessmen and students, who flight Bangkok (3) and Tokyo (3). Besides the specificity of being a stop on a were thus able to fulfil their desire to multi-leg route, a situation shared by all the discover other countries without using up Air France stations on the Far East route, their meagre allocation of foreign currency. In summer 1961, the success of the New the new Air France destination of Delhi The most sought-after stops were Rome and Delhi flights encouraged Air France to presented two characteristics which the Paris. These facilities quickly led to a consi- increase its frequencies from two to three Air France sales force had to cope with: derable flow of Indian travellers, in addition flights a week, naturally by Boeing 707. • On the one hand, the limited potential of to foreign residents, businessmen and Calcutta also benefited from one weekly the economic and cultural Franco-Indian diplomats who were able to travel freely. flight. The schedule remained stable until relationship, as India was mainly focused 1967, when Air France replaced Calcutta by The final destinations of the Indian clientele on Great Britain in Europe, Canada and were usually beyond Paris, all over Europe, Mumbai as its second Indian destination. the United States for the rest of the world, In fact the spectacular economic develop- the Americas and Africa, not forgetting all ment of Mumbai, coupled with the difficul- • On the other hand, a very severe currency the stops en route. ties in obtaining an additional frequency in exchange control as Indian nationals had Air France has always gone beyond the sim- India, were the main reasons for this choice. to obtain authorization, backed up by the ple bilateral Franco-Indian relationships, The westbound flight served Karachi, Cairo, purchase of a plane ticket, the famous even if the relationships between the two Nice and Paris Orly and the eastbound “P. form”, and the strict limitation in countries had constantly grown. flight Bangkok and Manila. buying foreign currency. 2/Today Hostesses of the Air France ticket office in Scindia House during the 1960s Poster designed by Georges Mathieu, The Air France sales force in India were able Today, most of the Air France passengers From left to right: Nalini Mitra, Rina Charan Singh, Romala Nazareth, printed in 1967 The second frequency introduced in April to convert these two major handicaps into departing from India are businessmen, Clemence Goubert in 1965 1969 was a direct result of the successful Air attracted by the quality of the inflight France service to Mumbai. At that time, Air assets by proposing to pay for the accommo- dation expenses of Indian customers at the service, the 17,900 weekly connections France served New Delhi three times a week. available at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle The westbound service stopped in Teheran intermediary stops before reaching their final destination. hub and the joint frequent flyer program of (3 flights) Tel Aviv (3) Rome (2) and Paris Air France/KLM, Flying Blue. Orly (3) and the eastbound service stopped Complying with the very strict IATA in Bangkok (3 flights) Pnom Penh (1) (International Air Transport Association) Manila (1), Hong Kong (2) and Tokyo (3). rules, Air France was able to pay for the The two weekly flights to Mumbai stopped

28 29 In April 1972,the introduction of the new November 1, 1974, all flights to the Far East, In summer 1980, New Delhi was served by jumbo jet, the Boeing 747, by Air France including the Southern Route transiting in four weekly flights, all operated with the added a new dimension to air transport. India, were transferred to Paris to the new Boeing 747.100. The fourth flight, called the This new aircraft, the first long-haul wide Air France site, Charles de Gaulle Airport Hong Kong express, continued further east bodied jet, had several new features: two in the north of Paris. to Hong Kong, with no intermediary stops. decks, main cabins with two aisles, unprece- This flight was suspended in winter 1980- dented ceiling heights allowing for roomy This marked the beginning of the construc- 81. overhead luggage compartments, spacious tion of the Air France connections network washrooms and galleys, offering unparalle- because, for the Indian market, Air France The acceleration of flights continued in led comfort to the Air France passengers. was not only selling France and the stops summer 1981: two out of the three weekly The aircraft was configured for 24 First along the route but also all the European, services from Mumbai to Paris-Charles de Class seats and over 350 Economy Class African and American destinations. Gaulle Airport were non-stop. A non-stop seats. Its cargo capacity, in addition to the flight to Hong Kong provided the Hong luggage holds, was impressive too: 22 ton- In summer 1977, each of the three weekly Kong Express service. nes, the three holds being four times bigger services to Mumbai was operated by Boeing than those of the 707 (173 m3 compared to 747. Flights from New Delhi were also During summer 1982, the first non-stop 41 m3). The arrival of an aircraft of this size operated by Boeing 747 in winter 1977. raised difficulties at Palam Airport. service (out of three weekly frequencies) was introduced between New Delhi and In summer 1979, the Boeing 747 Super Paris-Charles de Gaulle. This acceleration At this time, three Air France weekly flights Pelican freighter, with a payload of 120 carried on in winter 1982: three non-stop to India (2 to New Delhi and 1 to Mumbai) tonnes of cargo, supplemented the 22 tonnes flights from Paris to New Delhi with no sto- were operated with the Boeing 747.100, the of cargo carried by Air France to India on povers and two non-stop out of three in the remaining two frequencies by Boeing 707 each of the six weekly frequencies in the other direction. That year 1982, Air France (1 to New Delhi and 2 to Mumbai). standard Boeing 747: Delhi was served once moved its long-haul service to Asia to its weekly. At the same time, the stopovers of new private air terminal, Paris-Charles de In April 1973, a third weekly frequency ope- the six flights showed the acceleration of Gaulle, Terminal 2A. rated by Boeing 707 was launched to routes transiting in India: on flights to Mumbai, which then boasted two flights by Delhi, the only westbound stop was Dubai Air France fitted out its First Class in the Departure of His Majesty Mahendra, King of Nepal, Boeing 707 and one by Boeing 747. In sum- for one flight and Teheran for two flights; on Boeing 747 with seat-beds. greeted by the Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi, mer 1974, the traffic growth in Mumbai was the eastbound service, the three flights AF flight 193, August 27, 1970, New Delhi-Paris such that the proportion was reversed: two ended in Hong Kong after a stop in In summer 1983, the three weekly flights 747.100 flights and one Boeing 707 flight to Bangkok. For the three flights to Mumbai, between Mumbai and Paris were also ope- the Maharastran capital. two transited in Dubai and one in Teheran rated non-stop in both directions. before arriving in Paris on the westbound route; eastbound, all the flights stopped in Air France advertisement published Bangkok, one stopped in Ho-Chi-Minh City in the South Asia Travel Review and Hanoi and the two others ended in in December 1982 Manila after a stop in Bangkok. 30 31 During autumn 1983, the hotel subsidiary By summer 1987, a daily flight connected allocation of seats to passengers easier, whe- of Air France, the Méridien chain, opened a Paris to India with four frequencies to reas it had often been a tricky issue in the 450-room hotel in New Delhi. This opening Delhi and three to Mumbai. case of multi-leg flights, and it led to a signi- strengthened the Air France Group’s com- ficant improvement in comfort for Indian mercial action conducted by its tourism sub- customers. sidiary, Sotair, with its brands Jumbo and As from May 31, 1989, every flight from Jet Tours and by its air transport activity at Paris to India was non-stop. Eastbound That summer, flights were operated with the the service of India’s economic, touristic and stops from Delhi were Bangkok (2 flights), long-haul, twin-engined Boeing 767.300, cultural development. Beijing (1 flight) Ho Chi Minh City equipped with 24 seats in “Espace 127” and (1 flight) and Hong Kong (3 flights). 184 seats in Tempo. Eastbound stops from Mumbai were At the same time, a new flight was launched Bangkok (2 flights) and Hong Kong stopping in Karachi and Delhi before flying (3 flights). During autumn 1995, Air France introdu- non-stop to Beijing. ced the youngest of the Airbus family, the A flight to Delhi stopped in Karachi again long-haul, four-engined jet A340.300, on In summer 1984, Air France introduced the during winter 1989, but was suspended on the three non-stop Paris-Delhi flights. This Boeing 747 Combi,with capacity for both June 2, 1990. aircraft was equipped with the new Air passengers and cargo (176 seats, 13 pallets, France product: 16 “Espace 180 Premiere” 7 on the main deck and 6 in the belly) on In 1991, the growth of cargo activity led Air flat beds, 42 “Espace 127 Business” recli- flights to New Delhi and took advantage of France to double the 747 Super Pelican ning seats and 240 seats in Tempo class. it to increase its weekly frequencies from freighter flight from Delhi and to introduce The three weekly flights from Mumbai Loading of an outsize shipment three to four flights as of June 26, 1985. a weekly frequency to Mumbai, in addition continued to be operated with the Boeing through the nose of the B747 to the capacity of the seven weekly Boeing freighter at Paris-CDG Airport Two of the four flights which passed through 747 Combi. Delhi then flew non-stop to Beijing and, on 747 passenger flights from India,. one of these, Air France offered the fastest In summer 1996, Delhi once again boasted service between Europe and China: Paris- During summer 1992, the aftermath of the four weekly flights, all operated by Airbus Delhi-Beijing. 1991 Gulf War had contrasted effects: Delhi A340.300. Until 1995, Air France offered a constantly and Mumbai had two weekly frequencies each by Boeing 747 freighter and Delhi growing number of flights by Boeing 747 In summer 1997, it was Mumbai which Combi, as the capacity for 176 passengers reduced its mixed passenger and cargo flights from four to three a week. greeted the Air France Airbus A340.300. was then sufficient for non-stop flights from As for Delhi, it saw the arrival of the Boeing Delhi or Bombay to Paris; on the other 767.300. hand, the additional cargo capacity increa- During summer 1995, the development of sed in line with the fast-growing economic passenger traffic to and from India was such development of India both in terms of that the six non-stop weekly flights from During summer 1998, Air France capacity export as well as import freight. Paris no longer needed additional traffic to out of India continued to grow: the number the East of India: Delhi and Mumbai beca- of flights from New Delhi went up to five a Poster from the Air France “ticket” campaign me turnaround stations. This made the week, and to four a week from Mumbai, all in France in 1983 32 33 “L’Espace Affaires” operated with the Boeing 767.300. This In 2003, Air France maintained its daily on a long-haul flight made a total of 9 weekly flights from India Airbus A340.300 service from Delhi. The to Paris, operated by Air France. daily service from Mumbai was operated with the Airbus A340-300 for Air France In summer 2000, Air France introduced (three flights) and the Boeing 767 for Delta daily service to Delhi. As for the (four flights). Maharastran capital, the number of weekly flights rose from four to five. The flights to In summer 2004, Air France continued to these two Indian destinations were operated operate its daily Airbus A340.300 flight by Airbus A340.300, which all arrived at the from Delhi. Concerning Mumbai, Air new Terminal 2F at the Paris-Charles de France operated five out of the seven weekly Gaulle 2 hub. flights by Airbus A340.300, while Delta operated the two other flights by Boeing 767. In December 2000, Mumbai increased its As from winter 2004, Air France finally service from five to six weekly flights, ena- operated a daily Airbus 340 flight, and from bling Air France to offer a total of thirteen Delhi a daily Boeing 747.400. flights from India to Paris-Charles de Gaulle, all of which were non-stop. In 2005 Air France operates out of five hubs in India. Air France offers daily service In summer 2002, Air France operated from Delhi and Mumbai; a daily flight flights from Mumbai with a Boeing 747, from Chennai to Paris (operated on a code- followed by an Airbus A340. Air France share basis with our partner Delta Airlines) offered three weekly flights and Delta 4 since May 10, 2005; five weekly flights weekly flights, all on a code-share basis. between Karnataka’s capital Bangalore This meant that customers benefited from and Paris since October 31, 2005; finally at daily service from Mumbai to Paris. As a the end of November there will be non-stop result, on departure from India and in service from Andhra Pradesh’s largest addition to the daily Delhi flight, Air France metropolitan city and capital Hyderabad to offered Indian customers 14 weekly flights Europe with 2 flights per week under code- to its Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub, from share with its sister airline KLM. where passengers had an exceptional choice From Delhi, as in winter 2004 and in order of European, American and African connec- to meet the seasonal increase in passenger tons. traffic, Air France is operating in winter 2005 the larger Boeing 747.400.

Boeing 747.400

34 35 Tailfins of the member airlines of the SkyTeam Alliance. International airlines join forces in order to year more than 15,000 daily flights to * In Europe, the “SkyTeam Europe Pass” Easier connections thanks to a high-qua- Consequently, SkyTeam ranked first among offer their passengers a wider choice of more almost 700 destinations in more than 130 launched at the end of 2002 enables pas- • lity international network. international companies in the “airlines” efficient, high-quality services. countries. sengers to buy flight coupons on the category of the American magazine Global Alliance’s intra-European flights at very • The guarantee of service quality on all Finance in its November 2002 issue. The benefits which SkyTeam offers its custo- competitive fares. the member airlines of the Alliance, while Set up in June 2000, SkyTeam is a global mers are numerous and highly appreciated: preserving the cultural identities and SkyTeam Cargo, set up in September 2000, The SkyTeam alliance which now includes nine interna- * In America, the “SkyTeam America specificities of each airline: currently includes Aeromexico Cargo, Air tional partners: Aeromexico, Air France, • Frequent flyers programs on all Pass” enables passengers to choose 3 to France Cargo, Alitalia cargo, CSA Czech KLM, Alitalia, Continental Airlines, CSA SkyTeam flights which allow members to 10 flights between 300 cities in all the * On every long-haul flight, the possibi- Airlines Cargo, Delta Air logistics, KLM , , earn Miles and obtain awards (free tic- American states, from Alaska to South lity of communicating with the cabin Cargo and Korean Air Cargo. and . kets, etc.) as well as faster access to America, at very advantageous price crew in English and in the languages of Alliance “Elite” membership status. the originating and destination coun- SkyTeam Cargo is the first, biggest and most conditions and for a maximum dura- tries of the flight. extensive air cargo alliance in the world. 391 lounges worldwide. tion of 60 days, The Alliance enables the coordination of • * Varied choice of meals to suit religious, each airline’s networks and hubs, and offers One-stop check-in for passengers trave- The strength of this Alliance is at the service A wider choice of ticket prices to more • medical or dietary needs. of the Indian economy in terms of import high-quality services to all its customers. • destinations for passengers residing in ling on connecting flights of Alliance The SkyTeam alliance has more than 3,200 members. 2,000 SkyTeam agencies all over the and export cargo and contributes to its India and traveling on a transatlantic, • development. aircraft in operation, including those of transpacific or intercontinental flight, on world to plan the passenger’s trip and subsidiaries, and almost thirty large hubs. one of the nine airlines: obtain information. It offers its 343 million passengers each

36 37 The Roissy-Charles-de-Gaulle 2

Aerial view of the terminals 2A, 2B, 2C and 2D and of the Paris-CDG 2 Hub train station The Paris-Charles de Gaulle 2 hub is one of through Paris-CDG 2 (arrivals and depar- Air France’s main assets. tures), of whom almost 55% have connec- Indeed, since summer 1995, Air France has ting flights (summer 2004). offered passengers some 18,000 weekly connections in under two hours between In addition to the high-quality services pro- the medium and long-haul networks, which vided by Air France and its SkyTeam part- is more than in Frankfurt, Amsterdam or ners, the Paris-CDG hub enjoys a privileged Heathrow. position thanks to the development poten- tial of the airport infrastructure: opening of Flights are organized in six connecting a third runway in 1999, a fourth in 2003, banks, with a wave of arrivals and a wave of opening of Satellite 3 in 2007, reopening of departures which allow for a maximum of the boarding pier of Terminal 2E at the connections in the shortest possible time. beginning of 2008 and the installation of There are more than 800 daily flights car- new baggage sorting systems. rying more than 97,000 passengers going

38 39 On the basis of these developments, Air Today at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle hub, Moreover, to help further improve the servi- France aims to build a coherent network Chinese, Korean, Indian, Japanese, Thai ce quality relationship prior to take-off, comprised of Terminals 2E and 2F and and Vietnamese passengers can request the these agents complete a document known as Satellite 3, geared to making the handling of assistance of our 26 Asian welcome agents “flight crew/ground staff synergy” which passengers and their baggage more efficient. who work under the supervision of a mana- they submit to the Chief Purser. The cabin This combined network will form the core of ger and two supervisors. Four agents are crew use this document to identify the the Air France hub. dedicated to Indian flights: Komal Dhillon, Indian passengers on board to meet their Jean Irani, Samira Nathho and Vish Sethi. needs more efficiently. One of the two supervisors is also a former Air France also benefits from air/rail employee in India, Sunanda Achar. connecting traffic thanks to the location of All these agents not only provide linguistic the TGV station at the heart of its Paris- and commercial assistance to our customers, CDG hub. Opened in 1994, passengers have but are also involved in various other activi- access to the the French “Reseau Express ties. Regional” (suburban rail network) and the high-speed Thalys train (-CDG For instance, they regularly organize infor- connection). The Thalys international ser- mation sessions aimed at increasing the vice, combining speed and comfort, guaran- awareness of their colleagues, passenger ser- tees excellent connections at Paris-CDG. In vice agents at CDG, of the culture and 2004, Air France, the SNCF and Thalys car- expectations of our Indian customers. ried more than 200,000 passengers using the combined modes of transport.

Terminal 2F of Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport

40 41 Poster from the Air France “ticket” campaign Tourism is an important sector of the Indian eco- in France in 1983 nomy. India with its rich and varied culture and heritage and the diversity and hospitality o ts people is one of the fastest growing favoured des- tinations in the world. The incredible India brand is now rmly established and has positio- ned India in a highly competitive market in a strong position. France nds itself at the forth position with 133,445 tourist arrivals in 2004 and this is steadily growing.

Air France contributes to the development of our tourism industry through its ights with fre- quencies and exemplary quality of service. It promotes our destinations in France and in P ers onal Europe and helps to achieve healty growth in E x per i e n ces terms of tourism. On the occasion of the ftieth anniversary of Delhi ights I would like to express my thanks to Air France and to its continued cooperation in promoting India as a major destination and I Air France wish them all success in their future endeavours. and the development RekhaKhosla Director of tourism Indiatourism Paris in India JET TOURS poster printed in 1987

Rekha Khosla

42 43 For every country in this era of In terms of Foreign Direct globalisation, that seeks to have Investment, France is the 9th its place in the sun, the creation largest investor in India. During of infrastructure is the key to the past 15 years, more than 860 success. Within the sphere of economic and financial collabo- infrastructure, one of the key ele- rations have been approved. ments is linkages by air. An organization such as Air Economic relations between France, has a more than valua- France and India have grown ble role to play in this scheme of substantially over the past two things. The frequency of flights decades and a half. Indian and the quality of service have exports have registered a strong undergone a sea change since Air P ersonal growth, resulting in a favorable France started out in India in Arun Nanda balance of trade for the sub- 1933. The increase in number of Experiences continent. Despite a substantial direct flights to new destinations amount of business, the volumes in India has also played a large need to grow further and to this and influencing role in decisions end, both countries have to work of investment. together to see how they can match their needs and require- The IFCCI is proud of the achie- February 26, 1980: delivery of a 19-tonne machine to IPC ments from each other. vements of Air France and its by a Boeing 747 Super Pelican freighter staff and personnel in India and Presently, there are close to 250 we congratulate them on their French firms established in 50th Anniversary of establish- Loading of pallets India and the number is gro- ment in Delhi and wish them by the nose door wing everyday. Success is not even greater success in the Economic of the “Super Pelican” merely a matter for big players. future. Success is largely measured when small and medium com- panies are ready to establish exchanges themselves in another country Arun Nanda and are confident and comforta- President ble with the systems and proces- of the Indo-French Chamber between India ses involved in doing so. of Commerce and Industry and France 44 45 Sheela Mehta

The Air France team in New Delhi in 2005 The Air France Staff in India P ersonal Experiences November 14, 1955: already half a century Finally it’s the sense of pride that strongly Naturally as in every family, we have had ago, the first Air France flight landed at prevails in me: our differences but we have known how to Palam Airport after stopping in Nice, Beirut overcome these difficulties in the interest of and Karachi, on its way to Saigon. How far •Pride for the distance we have covered, or the passengers from the international we have flown since! as our General Manager, Mr. Dominique Indian air transport and of Air France. Gass says, we have moved on from a status When they asked me to give an account, on of a simple stopover on Air France’s Far I would like to thank and congratulate all behalf of my Indian colleagues, of our acti- Eastern route to that of an autonomous vity at Air France in India, the first feeling I my colleagues and partners, Indians and major station of the Air France worldwide expatriates. My wish is that Air France get is that of overwhelming humility: network. nothing would have been achieved without continues to follow the path of excellence the strong sense of team spirit and enthu- •Pride for having contributed to the econo- and success in its services in India, thus siasm which kept all of us going and which mic development of India and to bringing bringing India closer to France and the still strongly prevails among our young col- our people closer to the rest of the world. European Union. leagues. •Pride for having known how to adapt to the continuous changes of the Air France The sales team of Air France New Delhi in 1966, And then after this humility, came gratitude product (aircraft types, airport services, from left to right: V.S. Jain next to Jean Signoret, to all those who helped us in our tasks: the frequencies, etc.) and to the serving of our Sheela Mehta Regional Manager for Northern India, Ms. France Carter, Indian Authorities, of course, travel agen- customers and the Company. President of the Air France Mr. And Mrs. Felix Damette, Sales Manager, Kulrag Singh, cies, clearing agents and the economic and Delegation Amicale in India Mr. And Mrs. Awasti and Vinay Mohindra cultural community of India.

46 47 dent card. This new position Most of the Indian passengers and Bombay sales offices gave route flights: Komal Dhillon, P ersonal required my presence at Orly six were emigrants, mainly from them an accommodation vou- Jean Irani, Samira Nathoo and days a week to cover a maximum Punjab and Gujarat, transiting cher, mainly for the Astra hotel Vish Sethi. One of the supervi- Experiences of flights from India. in Paris before going on to with which we had signed an sors is also a former Air France , Manchester, New York, agreement and which knew their India agent, Sunanda Achar. All The three types of Indian cliente- Chicago, Montreal or Los expectations well. As for me, I of them are carrying on the tra- le arriving from Delhi and Angeles. gave them Air France bus tickets dition by offering linguistic and Air France welcomes its Mumbai (although Air France from Orly to the city center (the commercial assistance to our had no flight from Chennai, I saw to their comfort during air terminal at Invalides). customers. They have since bran- Indian passengers in Paris: Nalini Mitra, today Nalini de Bellaigue, many of our passengers came their transit, gave them their ched out into a number of other was the first Indian hostess in Orly in from there) were the focus of my boarding card for their next Our passengers and the Indian activities too, playing an impor- From the pioneer, Nalini Mitra, 1971. She describes her experience: attention. flight and accompanied them to travel agent network quickly got tant role in increasing other col- the boarding lounge. My kno- to know about this welcome ser- leagues’ awareness of the culture “I joined Air France in New Delhi in and expectations of our Indian I made sure my compatriots wledge of Hindi enabled me to vice. It effectively contributed to to today’s’team 1963 working at Palam Airport and then talk to my Indian passengers in filling up our Boeing 747s, customers. To this end, they at the ticket office in Scindia House. received the warmest welcome. made contributions to a booklet Before take-off, all those passen- Punjabi (Punjab) and in recently introduced in India. Nalini Mitra Marathi (Gujarat). Vegetarian food or “Hindu- entitled “Namaste, win the pre- gers received a memo presenting ference of our Indian clientele” Most of our Indian clients were trans- the reception service at Orly meals” served to Indian natio- iting in Paris, as their final destinations nals departing from Paris was which summarizes Indian histo- with a photo of me wearing a But for some languages like ry and culture, and lists the best were most often Great Britain, America traditional sari (I was used to Tamil, we resorted to the inter- also a big improvement. When I or Canada. left Air France in May 1973, practices to adopt for these custo- wearing the Air France uniform national language of signs. mers. in Delhi) and, on disembarking after getting married, processes were running smoothly and the The quality of transit was an important from the aircraft on their arrival, Other types of Indian passengers factor for this clientele as they would be they looked for me (sometimes I reception service for passengers Years go by, but the personalized flying with Air France were stu- arriving from India was conti- reception of our Indian custo- welcomed in their mother tongue. The had trouble proving my identity dents and professors in transit Air France General Management for when my hairstyle was different nued. A colleague from Mumbai mers still remains…” for 24 hours, in the hope of dis- replaced me… India convinced Head Office to start an from the photo). covering as much of Paris as Indian hostess service in 1971 at Orly, possible. which was AF’s main base. Very few …Today, at the Paris-Charles de Businessmen were a minority Nalini Mitra Indian personnel spoke French. Having among passengers and our sales Gaulle hub, there is an Asian The Indian welcome team at Paris-CDG 2: studied in Europe, I was one of the few To go over the limit of 8 dollars reception service with twenty-six First Indian hostess in Paris Messrs Jean Irani, Samira Nathoo, office always informed me when imposed by the Indian currency skilled agents able to speak French and they were due to arrive. They agents working under a manager Sunanda Achar (Lead Agents Reception Asia), this was the reason why the Company control, Air France paid for the and two supervisors, offering Komal Dhillon and Vishawjeet Sethi. simply needed assistance with accommodation of passengers chose me for this post. police and customs formalities. assistance to our Chinese, during their 24-hour stay in Korean, Indian, Japanese, Thai I was sent to Paris in November 1971 for Paris in compliance with the and Vietnamese customers. Four a trial period which enabled me to strict IATA conditions. The Delhi agents are dedicated to the India obtain my working permit and my resi- 48 49 Carte itinéraire de la route d’Extrême-Orient d’Air France (été 1937)

Pierre CAN is an eminent figure in French air transport: hired as a barman in 1938 at P ersonal the service of passengers of the Dewoitine 338 (the profession then came to be known Here are some of his memories of Air Experiences as steward after the war), he became a ste- France’s South East Asia Route: ward and subsequently a chief purser, on The Air France route map for the Far East board the DC4, the Languedoc, the “I was hired by Air France in Hanoi in 1938 (summer 1937) Constellation, the Super Constellation and to look after passengers on board the finally, the first four-engined Boeing 707, Dewoitine 338 linking Marseille to Hanoi ending his career in 1969. via India. From the three-engined The Dewoitine 338 was a highly-efficient three-engined aircraft for those days (speed: 260 km/h, range: 1950 km, cruising altitu- Dewoitine 338 (1938) de: 3,000 m) but it could only hold a little load (2,700 kg). For the twelve passengers it to the four-engined transported on the Far East routes, all the barman had was a cool box, 5kg of ice, drinks and some tinned food, amounting to Boeing 707 (1969) a total weight of 80 kg! This weight excluded all European barmen of an average weight of 65 to 75 kg. Consequently, it was partly Pierre CAN, because of our weight of 50 kg that eight Vietnamese colleagues and I were selected to provide the service on the Far East route departing from Tunis (my French colleagues 30 years of service to Air France’s passengers provided the in-flight service between Marseille and Tunis).

50 51 In 1938, the trip took seven days, with six bage can! In the evening, the passengers and course cheese and dessert, the whole served overnight stopovers: the first in Tunis, the crew had dinner at the hotel. The barman with a selection of vintage wines. At the second in Alexandria after stops in Tripoli made sure that passengers had the luggage back of the cabin, these flights offered six and Benghazi, the third in Baghdad after they needed for the night, after having dis- berths - two berths for two at floor and Boarding on the stops in Beirut and Aleph, the fourth in embarked them by means of the aircraft two berths for one above. Making the beds Dewoitine 338 Karachi after stops in Bouchir and Djask, stairs. In Calcutta, we used to stay at the didn’t take more than five minutes. the fifth in Calcutta after Jodhpur and Great Eastern Hotel. Passengers could stay in their berths during Allahabad, finally the sixth in Rangoon daytime stopovers. after a stop in Akyab. The seventh day, the flight reached Hanoi after a stopover in World War II caught us while we were in Bangkok before carrying on to Hong Kong Tunis. We were transferred to Algiers and New improvements in the service appeared with a stop at Bayard Fort. then to Marseille. We then provided flights with the Boeing 707 in 1960 and the inflight in the Dewoitine 338 equipped with 24 seats service reached a new peak with the intro- and in the Bloch 220 departing from duction of Boeing 747. These four-engined In order to limit the already very long flight Marseille and Algiers to Tunis, Oran and aircraft offered the passengers three other time, the barman obliged the passengers to Casablanca. advantages: speed – 900 km/h, cruising alti- board during the starting-up and heating of The resumption of Air France operations tude – more than 10,000 m above the mon- the engines (the piston engines of those took us back to the Far East Route. soon clouds, and finally the range, superior times needed ten to twenty minutes to warm to 10,000 km, allowing accelerated or non- Service on board the Dewoitine 338 up ready for the engine run-up and take- stop flights, for example between Delhi and off) and just a few meters from the exhaust The Constellation (Lockheed L749) used on Paris. pipes: they were totally immersed in the the route transiting in Calcutta as from aeronautical atmosphere of the pioneers 1954, brought huge improvements: the amidst noise, air, smoke, and dust! speed of 480 km/h, the capacity (from 34 What a difference between the flights when berth-seats to 68 tourist seats), and a flying I started - 5 days between Calcutta and altitude of 6,000m with a pressurized cabin. Paris, with thirteen stops in comparison to a Service on board the Constellation These daytime flights mostly followed the For the passengers’ comfort, the cabin crew current flight operated with a Boeing coastline routes. This could be very difficult, (usually two stewards and a hostess) had a 747.400, which links Delhi to Paris non-stop particularly during the monsoon (cloudy closet containing prepared meals with star- in only 8hr 30 min, and in the opposite fronts rose up to 9,000 m whereas the ceiling ters, cheese and dessert. The hot dishes, in direction, with dominant winds, in less than of the Dewoitine 338 was limited to 3,000 small baking dishes inside thermos boxes 8 hours!” m). The 260 km/h cruising speed left rain- were warmed up on electric hotplates. We drops running down the windows. had to wait for the Lockheed L.1049 Super Constellation equipped with electric ovens For the meal, the barman ordered meal to be able to cook food properly and offer boxes for cold meals at the stopovers and meals worthy of good restaurants: numerous served them once the aircraft had reached its starters (caviar, salmon, foie gras), piece of cruising altitude. His jump seat hid the gar- meat cut in front of the passenger and of

52 53 Flight AF 196 from Delhi to Tokyo on April 3, 1972 Flight AF 195 from Mumbai to Teheran on April 6, 1972 Flight AF 197 from Delhi to Tel Aviv on April 4, 1972 The city becomes a stake From 1972, the phasing in of the Boeing B747 on the … meet the demands of mass air traffic on some of the routes … for the sales force, as they were key segments for Southern Route provided the eight main Air France including Teheran-Mumbai and Delhi-Saigon, indispensable… travellers to these destinations. On the Southern Between two Empires India was subjected to stations with capacity to… Route, India was a must. the Afghan invasions, the Muslim power, the non-Muslim States, Franco-British rivalry (1761) and the birth of the Indian Empire (1818); a very tormented period and rich in historical events. The English took Delhi in 1803 and made it the heart of their military operations against the muti- nous North West provinces. During the Sepoys’ revolt in 1857, the mutineers occu- pied the city from May 11 to October 20.

Expansion From 1912, the British built New Delhi in the South of the old city and on a grandiose plan. It became the capital of the Indian P ersonal Experiences Intrusive neighbours Empire and owed its growth to a strategic crossroads of rail and road routes. It juxta- In the first thousand years B.C, a first city, the city to its capital status when in 1648 posed the old historic city in typical Indian Hastinapura, occupied the site of Dhillika, Shah Djahan transferred his court to the style with narrow streets and sprawling another city founded during the 11th centu- city which he had just built and to which he bazaars, its monuments marked by centu- ry A.D., invaded by the Sultan Muhammad gave his name. This city, Chahdjahanabad, ries of Muslim domination, and the new Aerophilatelic Delhi, of Ghor in 1193. became what is known as Old Delhi. The city,with its extended suburbs, lawns, parks, Called Firuzabad during the 14th century Persian Emperor Madir Chah and the big official buildings, embassies, 4-star (Firuz Shah Tughlug), capital of the Great Afghan Ahmad Chah pillaged it, in 1739 hotels: a mixture of neo-classical design Association capital of the East Moguls, it was founded on a former Hindu and in 1761 respectively. reminiscent of Mogul architecture. Center of site, was destroyed and rebuilt several times trade, tourism, and intellectual life, Delhi on the shores of the Jamuna river Following fighting between the Moguls and represents a self-governing territory of about (Yamuna). From 1206 to 1526, it became Afghans, which went on for thirty years, 1,500 km2. of Air France the capital of a sultanate representing the came the time of the Mogul Empire (1556) first Muslim power of India. Timur Lang until it fell in 1739, with the collapse of (Tamerlan) plundered it in 1398. After a Madir Chah. (A.A.D.A.F.) short reign from Agra, the Moguls restored

54 55 History revealed in the stone French Prime Minister Laurent At the start of the winter schedule on November 1, 1994, Modern Times In 1994, Delhi became a terminal station, Fabius flew on board the Air France introduced the first European long-haul aircraft, with the flight of the first European long- Concorde on November 11, the Airbus A340.300, on the route to Delhi, thereby imple- Old Delhi boasts some beautiful monu- 1980 to pay a last homage to menting . a new strategy… As the last capital of the Indian Empire, haul aircraft, the Airbus A.340-300 on ments of the times when Delhi was a sulta- Mrs. Indira Gandhi, Indian Head Delhi became the capital of India in 1947. November 1st: Flight AF178, captain Y. nate and the city of the Great Moguls. In of State. Federal capital, administrative and politic Bigeard, OPL R. Valette and and OPL F. seven successive sites, it offers a unique headquarters of the Indian Union, Delhi Renaud, registration number of the aircraft: group of buildings harking back to the end with its 6 million inhabitants, has very acti- F-GNID. of the 12th century and the middle of the ve food and chemical industries and is very 13th. Among these: dynamic in paper mills and textiles (silk). From summer 2000, service to Delhi became • Qutb Minar (1199), a minaret which daily. has been restored several times, it’s ama- On November 14, 1955, Air France opened zing blend of red stones, next to Quwwat the Delhi station with one weekly flight ope- In February 2005, French and Indian Al-Islam (1192) and Alai Darwaza rated by a Lockheed Constellation. The Authorities signed an amendment to their (1311), which complete the whole. transition to two frequencies took place in 55-year bilateral agreement, which will … of developing non-stop service to Asia and the Far April 1958, and then rose to three frequen- allow the French airline to develop capacity • The first Indian mausoleum: the Trading East. The technical stamp below shows the main cha- racteristics of the flight. cies in winter 1961 for the first time with the in India, giving it permission to fly to Iltumish tomb (1231) Boeing B.707. As always, India has been the crossroads of previous centuries. From Aden to Malacca, Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad in • The austere art of the Tughluqs (1325) populations, religious movements, civiliza- the hegemony of the Gujaratis, who were addition to Mumbai and Delhi. tions and trade. A glance at a map shows not exclusively converted to Islam, became During summer 1979, the Boeing B.747 • Mausoleums raised on a square or octa- “Super Pelican” freighter was the one which The importance of the fiftieth anniversary gonal base, opened in hemispherical this. more assertive. Vasco de Gama and the Portuguese sailors thus found a powerful provided a weekly flight to Delhi, whereas of Air France’s presence in New Delhi domes and often surrounded by porticos the following year, passenger services rose demonstrates its success in this city and under the Sayyids and the Lodis At the beginning of the 16th century, two and well-organized trade network in the external forces imposed themselves on India Indian Ocean at the end of the 15th centu- from three to four weekly frequencies. around the country, where the quiet tourist • The most prestigious buildings dating and changed the face of modern history in ry.Gujarat’s’ power on the maritime trade of today has taken the place of the bellige- from the Mogul times include: Asia: the arrival of the Europeans and the routes didn’t indicate any political domina- The first non-stop flight departing from rent invaders of the past. - The Red Fort (1639-1647), a succes- birth of the Mogul Empire. tion over the whole subcontinent. This thri- Delhi was launched in summer 1982, the sion of sandstone or white marble ving and strong sultanate was just one same year as the transfer to the new Air pavillions surrounded by a wall, India has always been the heart of a mariti- among the vast number of those who had France private terminal at Paris-Charles de me trade system that links the sprung from the Turk-Afghan conquests, Drawing by Gaulle (CDG2). Bernard Abouchar - The Great Mosque (1644-1648), Joseph de Joux, and beyond, the Mediterranean world to the with Muslim sovereigns at their heads whe- air transport painter A.A.D.A.F. Humayun’s tomb (circa 1564), Far East, creating a new system parallel to reas their population, in the majority, On November 2, 1984 former French Prime - The Pearl Mosque (circa 1660), the the famous Northern one called “the Silk remained loyal to Hinduism except for Sind Minister Laurent Fabius flew by Concorde, to Jantar Mantar observatory (circa Route”. This system has never undergone and Kashmir. the funeral of the Indian Head of State, Mrs. 1754), decline; it has gone through an intensely Indira Gandhi, to pay her a last homage. dynamic period and multiple changes. - The Mausoleum of Safdarjung Indian merchants from Gujarat were prin- (circa 1754), which announced the cipally in command, at the Arabians’ decline of the Empire. expense, who had dominated it during the 56 57 Acknowledgements

The Air France General Management for India thanks all those who have collaborated in producing this booklet.

Our sincere thanks go to all of you.

All illustrations for this booklet are provided by the Air France Museum Collections.

58 59 This booklet was designed and produced by the Air France Museum Association. Design from Dialogue & Strategie Paris - [email protected] Printed in Delhi on november 2005 by FORTUNE Print Services

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