World’s first airmail flight – India
February 18, 1911, the world’s first airmail flight took place in Allahabad, India.
Special post mark all mail was stamped with “First Aerial Post, 1911, U. P. Exhibition Allahabad.”
100th Anniversary of 1st flight.
Maxi card
Release date: Feb. 12, 2011
4 stamps on souvenir sheet – 100th Anniversary of 1st flight.
India Post
Release date: Feb. 12, 2011
French pilot Henri Pequet (1888-1974), climbed aboard his Humber-Sommer, along with approx. 6,000 postcards and letters on Feb. 18, 1911. The 8.2 km flight took 13 min. to complete. Not only was this the first airmail flight in the world, but it was also India’s first commercial civilian flight.
Pequet’s take off from the Allahabad polo field was witnessed by thousands who were eager to catch a glimpse of the Humber-Sommer flight. On the other end of the short hop to Naini Junction was a lone post office official who took the mail bags and departed. No crowds greeted the historic delivery. Once Pequet handed off the mail, he climbed back into the cockpit and returned to Allahabad.
Decades later, when interviewed about the flight, Pequet described flying over the Ganges and how he was worried he wouldn’t make it over to the quickly cleared landing place. (100 years on, India Post to re-enact world’s first airmail flight | India News – Times of India (indiatimes.com))
In 2011, India’s post office issued a number of spectacular first flight commemorative covers to celebrate this achievement.
You can read more here Airmail Firsts – flights, routes, stamps | Bitter Grounds Magazine