Karachi has a fascinating aviation history to be proud of, with its airfields contributing to world records. Many eminent adventurous aviators, such as Amy Johnson, Amelia Earhart and Alan Cobham, from the early decades of flying, took to Karachi with historical journeys. The first plane to arrive at Karachi, on December 10, 1918, was the original Handley-Page biplane. Major MacLaren flew the second one from Britain, in the following month. The birthplace of the colonial era Royal Indian Air Force was RAF Drigh Road. Soon, Karachi aerodrome became the gateway to India and the largest in Asia. Here is how it grew with a glorious past …..
Then, the British Secretary for War and Air was Winston Churchill. In December 1919, there was a House of Commons debate to earmark £50,000 for the establishment of aerodromes at Cairo, Bagdad, and Karachi. He said that this was only the beginning of the aerodromes required on the Indian route. Cairo to Karachi was considered an important section of the route from London to Australia, and it could be finished before the rest of the route was ready. Moreover, Cairo, Bagdad, and Karachi would contain garrisons of the air force, and it was hoped to hold these places largely through the instrumentality of the air forces, instead of a large number of troops. Apart from the defence the aerodromes would be very convenient for mails and passenger flying and would have the effect of buttressing the Empire together. That motion was carried by 524 votes to 40.
Drigh Road Airfield was founded in 1920, soon after Royal Air Force India Command was formed in 1918. The first aerodrome at Drigh Road was completed in 1924. Four years later, Karachi became the port of entry into India for Imperial Airways. In 1929, it became the first airport in South Asia where the Imperial Airways aircrafts landed from London. Thus, it was the first airport in the region for a commercial flight.
Imperial Airways Limited was formed on March 31, 1924, with the merger of British Marine Air Navigation Company Ltd, the Daimler Airway, Handley Page Transport Ltd and the Instone Air Line Ltd. It took the initial survey of flying between England and India. That journey to Karachi commenced on November 10, 1924, with Alan Cobham, accompanied by Air Vice-Marshal Sir Sefton Brancker and Arthur Elliot.
On December 27, 1926, Imperial Airways De Havilland Hercules left Croydon for a test flight to India. The flight reached Karachi on January 6, 1927. Sir Samuel Hoare (Secretary for Air), Lady Maud Hoare, and Air Vice-Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond landed at Karachi at 5.25 p.m. This was the first long-distance passenger flight ever carried out to a pre-arranged time table of hours and minutes. Capt Neville Stack and Barnard Leete made that first De Havilland Hercules light plane flight with passengers from London to Karachi. The journey took 11 days.
A separate department of Civil Aviation was created in 1927 with the appointment of Lt Col F C Shelmerdine as its first director. A nucleus of four controlled aerodromes at Karachi, Delhi, Allahabad and Calcutta was set up in 1931. A foundation of Air Traffic Control services was laid with the appointment of four Indian Aerodrome Officers trained in the UK. In those formative years, Commander HW Watt was appointed the commander of Karachi Airport in 1929.
Aviation circles were impressed by another remarkably short flight in 1927 when Flying Officer Keppen and Pilot Fryne, arrived at Karachi in three days from Amsterdam.
Regular London to Karachi service of Imperial Airways commenced on March 30, 1929, taking seven days. It became the airport of entry into India, connecting East and West. The oldest airline, still operating under its original name is KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (the flag carrier of the Netherlands), was founded on October 7, 1919. Its regular scheduled services between Amsterdam and Batavia (now called Jakarta) commenced in September 1929, operating via Karachi as en-route stop.
In October 1925, the Air Ministry issued orders and contract to build a huge hangar in Karachi, one of the three in the world. The construction of Kala Chapra commenced in 1926 and took two years to complete. Associated with it, a large mooring mast was also built. It was never used as the airship 101 was destroyed by fire in France on its maiden flight to Karachi in October 1930.
Karachi became the airport of entry into India, connecting East and West
The Royal Air Force commenced Karachi-Bombay airmail service on January 23, 1920. That was the first of the airmail in India. Mr P R Cadell, the commissioner in Sind, inaugurated the flight and among the passengers was Mr Lupton, Editor of the “Daily Gazette” Karachi, invited by the Governor of Bombay. The mail was carried in twelve cases. Those operations were terminated in six weeks in view of heavy losses. It only resumed years later in March 1929 when Imperial Airways commenced in Karachi for services to India.
To encourage local Indian pilots, Aga Khan arranged a competition for solo flight between India (Karachi) and England (London) in April 1930. The person to win the first prize was an 18-year-old student of DJ College Aspy Engineer, who was the son of a railway worker from Karachi. On return, he was cheered by a large crowd and garlanded by Mayor Jamshed Nusserwanji, while Cowasjee Variawa’s Own, the BVS School band, played tunes. Subsequently, he joined Royal Indian Air Force and was based at Drigh Road. Following partition, he rose to become Chief of the Indian Air Staff. One of the other competitors was JRD Tata from Bombay.
In 1932, Tata Airlines came to being as a division of Tata Sons Limited. On October 15, 1932, J R D Tata flew a single-engine De Havilland Puss Moth carrying air mail from Karachi’s Drigh Road Aerodrome to Bombay’s Juhu Airstrip via Ahmedabad.
In 1935, work commenced on the construction of a tower to carry a huge floodlight to make continuous day and night flying possible on the England-Australia route. Prior to that, there were not enough facilities for night landings.
The provision of additional new buildings and facilities for the emergency landing was announced in March 1936.
In December 1938, the Karachi Airport and its Terminal building (presently HQCAA Terminal-I) was reconstructed and It was officially opened for flight operations. During World War-II Karachi Airport (Terminal-I) was a major transhipment base for US Forces units. Personnel and equipment of the United States Army Air Forces littered the entire facility through during of the war. Air Technical Service Command had extensive facilities built where aircraft were received, assembled and tested prior to being flown to their combat units at forward airfields. Karachi Airport also functioned as major maintenance and supply depot for both air forces. The USAAF’s Air Transport Command also used Karachi Airfield as a staging point for supply runs to eastern India and China. The airport was handed back for civil aviation in 1945.
The Karachi Aero Club was established on July 28, 1928, and was the subcontinent’s first flying institution. Civil Air Service Training School commenced in 1944, with one of the sections being Aerodrome School for the training of officers both in administrative and flying control. All the new entrants to the service received a six-month course. After the war, the school trained specialist subordinate grades, including Signallers, Airfield Supervisors and Traffic Foremen.
Despite a decline in absolute airfares during the 1930s, the overseas middle class did not take to the air as much for recreational travel. The exorbitant cost was one factor. Another deterrent was the perception of risks including accidents, noise and the uncomfortable environment associated with flights. The advertised one-way fare between London and Karachi fell from £120 (equivalent to £7680 now) in 1929, to £85 in 1938.
The aerial geography bestowed Karachi with the largest and best-known airport in Asia. It became the major air function, particularly during the Second World War, when the Americans used it as a base and rebuilt the airport on a lavish scale. After the partition of India, Pakistan inherited an equipped and well-established aerodrome connecting East and West with major airlines landing at the port.
The writer is a consultant physician at Southend University Hospital, the UK