Postal Meter panels

During the 1950s to 1990s, the postal service was the most commonly used means of document exchange. Most offices worldwide had installed postal franking machines to eliminate the need to affix postage stamps on their correspondence. These machines provided an added advantage of printing an advertising message panel on the side of the franking. Air-India used this space very creatively.

Some examples of Postal Meter Advertising Panels are shown on this page.
Bombay. 5 May 1955
Bombay. 5 May 1955
Bombay. 7 May 1955
Dusseldorf. 24 February 1958
Dusseldorf. 24 November 1958
Notice the lovely cartoon with our Maharajah shaking hands with a kangaroo. The first Air-India service to Sydney was inaugurated on 5 October 1956.
Air-India International airline stationary cover franked with DUSSELDORF / 12 11 58 cds and DEUTSCHE BUNDESPOST / 007 value, it has a panel promoting the Air-India International services to Australia.

London. 28 May 1959
Cairo. 4 June 1959
Here the Maharajah welcome you to FLY WITH ME.
Promoting services to Far East destinations. Notice the Maharajah greeting Thai, Hong Kong Chinese and Japanese characters. They resemble the same figures used in coaster and baggage label designs for Bangkok, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The Lockheed Constellation L-749 service from Bombay to Tokyo via Calcutta, Bangkok and Hong Kong was launched on 7 May 1955.
New York. 14th May 1960
Aerogramme with 75 np value pre-printed and cancelled BOMBAY G.P.O. / 14 MAY 60, and also bears the oval violet First Flight commemoration cachet, which travelled on the first flight. While mail on this flight is quite common, aerogrammes are considered scarce/rare.
Cairo. 1 June 1961

Bombay. 25 November 1961
NIC
Image Courtesy: Mr. Sushil Mehra
This panel used in 1961 talks about the airline serving destinations in four continents, Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. In fact the airline served Australia as well.
Calcutta. 20 March 1964
Frankfurt. 14 September 1967
Air-India Boeing 707 Intercontinental on-board guest stationery addressed to Germany with Meter Franking 160 np, AI CALCUTTA, 20 III 64, with boxed FLY WITH ME, AIR INDIA, Maharajah logo cachet, sent under certificate of posting.
Kuala Lumpur, 4 January 1973
Amsterdam, 5 December 1974
NIC
Image Courtesy: Mr Sushil Mehra
Air India meter franked cover postmarked KUALA LUMPUR, SELANGOR, 4 I 73, and with the boxed Maharaja logo and TERBANG DEGAN AIR-INDIA (Fly With Air-India), addressed to Singapore

New York, 21 January 1983

Roma. 4 March 1985
Paris. 4 September 1991
Here we have the airline advertising its Boeing 747 service, which was in fact introduced a good twenty years earlier, on 21st May 1971
Bombay, 4 November 1993
Boxed Meter Franked 1 Rupee value, with advertising panel (in Hindi and in English) FLY MY 747TH WONDER OF THE WORLD, and  date stamp BOMBAY / A.I. / BS-2547 / 04 XI 93
Brussels. 3 December 1993
This panel has just our Maharajah, always courteous, always graceful, inviting you to fly Air-India.
Air-India Business Stationery
​Air-India International Stationary cover with the London address.
Air-India airline stationary cover with the 345 Park Avenue, New York address, franked India Postage stamps and posted to Bombay.
1992 Aerogramme (Rs 6.50 value) with Air-India advertising on the reverse.
​

Examples of stationary provided to passengers for in-flight use.

Special event promotional labels issued by Air-India

The International Eucharistic Congress was held in Bombay in 1964, and His Holiness Pope Paul VI flew from Rome to Bombay in a special Air-India flight.
On the left we have an imperforated sheet of 8 labels, and above is a single perforated example.
On the top we have an Air-India label issued when the airline flew the Kenyan Olympic team to Tokyo in 1964.
Air-India Boeing 707
On the right is the label issued which reads INTERNATIONAL TOURISM YEAR 1967. The label is used on an Air-India commercial use cover hand-stamped ERNAKULAM.

Special covers for Postage Stamps sold to passengers for in-flight use

The airline provided guest stationary for in-flight use to passengers. Along with this, postage stamps were  sold is special envelopes made out of hand made paper. Here are some examples.