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. 28 June 1954
Bombay, 26 August 1954
NIC
(Image Courtesy: Mr. Parvesh Gupta)
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

Here the Maharajah welcome you to FLY WITH ME.
Cairo. 1 June 1961
Cairo. 4 June 1959
NIC
​​(Image Courtesy: Mr. Sushil Mehra) 
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.
Bombay, 7 March 1961

Bombay. 25 November 1961

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
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.
Praha-1, 4 May 1965
Air-India Guest Stationary cover. On board stationary cover issued to passengers sent by a Bombay sender, and machine franked PRAHA-7 / 4 5 65 in Czechoslovakia CSSR  
Frankfurt. 14 September 1967
New Delhi, 31st January 1971
New Delhi,  21st February 1972
Kuala Lumpur, 4 January 1973
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
​Amsterdam, 5 December 1974
Amsterdam. 22 May 1990
Air-India meter panel with advertisement panel (in Red) Fly AIR-INDIA the airline that loves you and date stamp AMSTERDAM / 5 XII 74.
​(Image Courtesy: Mr Sushil Mehra)
Air-India meter panel with advertisement panel (in Blue) Fly AIR-INDIA the airline that loves you and date stamp AMSTERDAM / PAPENBROEKSTEEG2 1012 NW / 22.5.90
​(Image Courtesy: Mr. Abhay Tiku)
Geneve, 19 July 1976
Geneve, 19 July 1976
Geneve, 22 June 1978
Air India business stationary envelope with meter franking and cancellation reading 1200 GENEVE 1 / DEPOT / 19.7.76 and boxed rectangular advertising panel with a drawing of the Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and FLY AIR-INDIA slogan.
Meter franking at GENEVE dated 19.7.76 with the panel showing the Air-India Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and the legend FLY / AIR- / INDIA. This is a label, and unusual item to come across.
Self adhesive Geneva meter franking label dated 22.6.78 with panel showing the Air-India Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet and the legend FLY /AIR-/INDIA. 
Bombay, 30 July 1976
NIC
Air-India meter panel with advertising panel (in English) FLY MY 747TH WONDER OF THE WORLD! and date stamp Bombay G.P.O. / A.I./ B-1536 / 30 VII 76.
Interesting Emergency era slogan on reverse.
(Image Courtesy: Umendra Kumar Jain)​

New York, 21 January 1983

Roma. 4 March 1985
Bombay, 19 June 1990
Bombay, 4 November 1993
Boxed Meter Franked 2 Rupee value, with advertising panel (in Hindi and in English) FLY MY 747TH WONDER OF THE WORLD! and  date stamp BOMBAY / A.I. / BS-1038 / 19 VI 90
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
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
Delhi, 24th February 1992
Brussels. 3 December 1993
This panel has just our Maharajah, always courteous, always graceful, inviting you to fly Air-India.
Air-India Business Stationery
Light bule AIR-INDIA International Ltd. Air Mail cover, addressed to K.L.M. Royal Dutch Airlines / Schipol Airport, Amsterdam, Holland, franked 12a and cancelled EXPTL S.O. / B-94 / 8 DEC 49. On the reverse, the cover is sealed with a K.L.M. 1919-1949 30 (years) pictorial label.
Air-India International stationery cover Geneva office, Rome 18 April 1950
Air-India International stationery cover  address to Air-India International office, Bombay, 10th May 1950
Air-India International stationery airmail cover sent to Brussel, Belgium. Cover franked with 14a 
​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.

Air-India International Air Mail label used in Egypt c.1950s.
Listed under India in the Air Mail Labels catalogue # IND-B-3 

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.
Other Interesting Cover
Bombay, 26 November 1950.