Return Flight Covers
The Return flight left London on the morning of 12 June, landing in Bombay on 13 June after halting at Geneva and Cairo. Return mail on this flight is not very common, and only a limited number are thought to exist. Each of the three points of origin have an interesting story, which I will recount in this page. Additionally, no mail originating from any other location has been seen.
Return Mail from London
Officially, no mail was permitted to be carried on the return flight, and there are estimates from various experts that somehow between 25-50 letters made it on the flight. My own guess is that the number was a little larger, maybe 100-200 covers. Most of these covers were prepared by Jal Cooper.
Air-India International souvenir cover printed specially for the return flight (London – Geneva – Cairo – Bombay) in mint condition. An unused and blank cover is being recorded for the first time.
Air-India International
First return Flight from London to Bombay
12 June 1948.
First return Flight from London to Bombay
12 June 1948.
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Rare Air-India International Souvenir cover printed for the return flight London - Bombay. Franked with KG VI 1 shilling value and cancelled and post marked LONDON S.W.I., D, 6.15 PM, 10 JNE, 1948. Boxed rectangular arrival mark on the reverse BOMBAY-25, 14 JUN 1948. Cover addressed to M.M.D'Souza, Radio Officer, Air-India Limited, Bombay Airport.
Very rare cover, and only a handful are known to exist.
Very rare cover, and only a handful are known to exist.
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Above: Air-India International souvenir cover with the words London - Bombay Inaugural Flight printed on it. Generally when one sees such a printed cover, it is normal to expect a large quantity to be prepared, and used. However, such examples are rarely seen for this flight, and collectors still imagine there is a hoard somewhere that will surface one day. The One Shilling postage stamp is cancelled with a comet cancellation, LONDON S.W.1, G, 6 PM, 10 JNE 1948.
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Above: A trio of Jal Cooper items. From Left to Right, the first is a plain cover, the second is a plain cover with the Air-India International Centaur logo, and the third is an Air Letter with the Air-India International Centaur logo printed on it. All three are cancelled LONDON F.S. 68, 10.30 AM, 11 JU 48 thereby indicating they were all mailed together in one lot. The arrival stamp on the reverse of all these three items reads BOMBAY-1, DELY, 8-A.M., 14 JUN 48, thereby validating the first return flight carriage for these items.
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Return Mail from Geneva
Mail on the return flight from Geneva is even more difficult to see. For some strange reason, no ordinary letters by Air Mail seem to have made it on the flight. One story is that the post-bag with the return mail was misplaced and sent on the next flight a week later. You will see an example of this in the panel below. So, only registered mail seems to have made it on the return flight. Assuming that only one batch of covers was sent registered, it should be possible to guess the quantity by identifying the range of registration numbers from the labels. I have displayed below# 285 & 306. A. K. Bayanwalla has illustrated # 290 on his web-site. That one is a beautiful Air-India International red souvenir cover with the words London - Bombay Inaugural Flight printed on it, and addressed to Jal Cooper, Bombay. Going by this information, I would guess that about 30-40 covers sent by registered post on the return flight is a fair estimate. The general opinion of professional philatelists here is much more conservative and in single digits.
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Above: Registered mail from Geneva to Bangalore, flown on the London - Bombay return flight on 12 June. Postmarked GENEVE-1, POSTE AERIENNE, 12-VI-48-7, and an arrival mark on the reverse BANGALORE, REG, 16 JUN 48.
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Above: Registered mail from Geneva to Bangalore, flown on the London - Bombay return flight on 12 June. Postmarked GENEVE-1, POSTE AERIENNE, 12-VI-48-7, and an arrival mark on the reverse INLAND REGN., DELY. DEPTT, BOMBAY G.P.O., DELY, 15 JUN 48, 10.45 A.M.
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Air -India International red souvenir registered cover (Geneve-1 295) for the return flight was posted in time. the cancellation mark on the postage stamp , GENEVE-1, POSTE AERIENNE, 12-VI-48-7 and an arrival mark on the reverse INLAND REGN., DELY. DEPTT, BOMBAY G.P.O., DELY, 15 JUN 48, 10.45 A.M.
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This cover was intended for the return flight, but returned a week later.
Air -India International red souvenir cover for the return flight was posted in time. the cancellation mark on the postage stamp is identical with the cancellation on the registered mail, GENEVE-1, POSTE AERIENNE, 12-VI-48-7. However, the arrival mark on the reverse, BOMBAY-1, DELY, 1.30 P.M., 21 JUN 48 clearly establishes that this cover missed the first return flight.
Air -India International red souvenir cover for the return flight was posted in time. the cancellation mark on the postage stamp is identical with the cancellation on the registered mail, GENEVE-1, POSTE AERIENNE, 12-VI-48-7. However, the arrival mark on the reverse, BOMBAY-1, DELY, 1.30 P.M., 21 JUN 48 clearly establishes that this cover missed the first return flight.
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NIC
It was hitherto believed that no ordinary mail was carried on the first return flight from Geneva. We had first seen a very limited number of Geneva-Bombay covers with an arrival mark in Bombay dated 21 June 48, which represented mail flown on the second return flight departing Geneva on 20 June (?). It is believed that only 5-10 such covers exist. This cover is shown as the third cover in this section. Then, registered mail started surfacing around 2015 which clearly flew on the first return flight and we have two examples shown above in this section with arrival dates of Bombay 15 June 48, and Bangalore 16 June 48. I have seen more covers like this, and perhaps the total quantity of such covers may be 25-50. The common perception so far was that the ordinary post bag got left behind, and only registered mail was carried on this flight.
Now, for the first time in June 2020, I am seeing a cover which has a CALCUTTA-13 / DELIVERY / (14 or 16) JUNE 1948 mark.
Many thanks to the owner for permitting me to share the image.
It was hitherto believed that no ordinary mail was carried on the first return flight from Geneva. We had first seen a very limited number of Geneva-Bombay covers with an arrival mark in Bombay dated 21 June 48, which represented mail flown on the second return flight departing Geneva on 20 June (?). It is believed that only 5-10 such covers exist. This cover is shown as the third cover in this section. Then, registered mail started surfacing around 2015 which clearly flew on the first return flight and we have two examples shown above in this section with arrival dates of Bombay 15 June 48, and Bangalore 16 June 48. I have seen more covers like this, and perhaps the total quantity of such covers may be 25-50. The common perception so far was that the ordinary post bag got left behind, and only registered mail was carried on this flight.
Now, for the first time in June 2020, I am seeing a cover which has a CALCUTTA-13 / DELIVERY / (14 or 16) JUNE 1948 mark.
Many thanks to the owner for permitting me to share the image.
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Air-India International, First Flight from Bombay to London, 8 June 1948
Cover from Calcutta to Geneva.
A grubby looking cover franked with the 12a commemorative stamp and tied with the boxed rectangular first flight cachet. Interesting as there is no Bombay G.P.O. cds. More so, as the cover has a delivery mark of BHAWANIPUR / 22 JUN 48 / 9 A.M., which means that the cover flew back on the second return flight from Geneva, arriving at Bombay on 21st June. What is more interesting is the turquoise endorsement which seems to be written in India as it is in English and is initialed and dated 19/6. The date is a mystery as the cover should not have arrived in India on that date.
Cover from Calcutta to Geneva.
A grubby looking cover franked with the 12a commemorative stamp and tied with the boxed rectangular first flight cachet. Interesting as there is no Bombay G.P.O. cds. More so, as the cover has a delivery mark of BHAWANIPUR / 22 JUN 48 / 9 A.M., which means that the cover flew back on the second return flight from Geneva, arriving at Bombay on 21st June. What is more interesting is the turquoise endorsement which seems to be written in India as it is in English and is initialed and dated 19/6. The date is a mystery as the cover should not have arrived in India on that date.
Return Mail from Cairo
There is no clear evidence of any return mail from Cairo on this flight. It just does not seem to exist. I have come across this one registered cover with a 12 June 1948 mark, and speculate whether there is any possibility this made it on the return flight. One of the goals of this web-site is to get feedback from collectors and professionals around items like these, and increase our knowledge pool. So, all visitors are requested to send me feedback by filling in the Contact Us page.
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Above: Here is a Private issue registered mail cover that was flown from Bombay to Cairo on the first outward flight, and has an arrival stamp at Cairo dated 9 Jun 18. There is another stamp which reads CAIRO DELIVERY, FOREIGN, R, 12 JUN 48, 10.00 A. One can speculate that this was returned to the sender on the return first flight, but there is no arrival stamp in Bombay to establish this.
There is another example of the Air-India souvenir cover with similar markings. You can see it in my blog of August 2016.
There is another example of the Air-India souvenir cover with similar markings. You can see it in my blog of August 2016.
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NIC
Here is a ‘Round Trip Cover’ that flew Bombay-Cairo on the 8 June First Flight, and returned Cairo-Bombay on the Second flight which would have left Cairo on 20 June (?). The faint CALCUTTA 7 / DELIVERY / 23 JUNE 1948 mark on the reverse clearly establishes this, and is the first recorded example of a cover on the second return flight from Cairo. The search for a cover from Cairo to Bombay on the first return flight continues.
Here is a ‘Round Trip Cover’ that flew Bombay-Cairo on the 8 June First Flight, and returned Cairo-Bombay on the Second flight which would have left Cairo on 20 June (?). The faint CALCUTTA 7 / DELIVERY / 23 JUNE 1948 mark on the reverse clearly establishes this, and is the first recorded example of a cover on the second return flight from Cairo. The search for a cover from Cairo to Bombay on the first return flight continues.