2017-11-09 Thu

28-year-old Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata flew a Puss Moth single-engine aircraft with a mail from Karachi to Mumbai on 15th October 1932 at the now Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. This gave India a place in the global air-map. The same aircraft was later flown to Madras by a former Royal Air Force (RAF) pilot, Nevill Vintcent.

Two commemorative stamps of Rs 5 and Rs 15 were issued to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee of this momentous event. Both the stamps feature pictures of the present-day Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. The first-day cover depicts the image of the airport where the flight commanded by Tata landed.

The first flight landed at Mumbai's Santacruz Airport which was a military airport in those days. The RAF launched operations in 1942. After independence, the airport management was transferred to the Indian government for civilian use.

The hangars of the RAF at Santacruz were converted into a domestic and an international terminal for commercial passenger traffic. Airports Authority of India (AAI) managed the airport earlier. The operations were transferred in 2006 to Mumbai International Airport Pvt Ltd. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport has a world-record of managing 935 flights on a single-day in a single-runway operation.