Picture Postcard -  first official airmail flight from Allahabad to Naini — Registration: PC-0020
Picture Postcard - first official airmail flight from Allahabad to Naini — Registration: PC-0020

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License Public Domain

Physical Description

This is a commemorative Picture Postcard released by Karnataka Postal Circle (India Post) in collaboration with PSOI (Philatelic Society of India) on 18 February 2025, to mark World Airmail Day. The postcard depicts a vintage Humber biplane in flight, with the text "World Airmail Day - 18 February" and a reproduction of the historic "First Aerial Post" circular cancellation from Allahabad (1911). The front shows the India Post logo and Air Mail text. The postcard was released by the Chief Postmaster General, Karnataka Circle, Bengaluru.

Picture Postcard - first official airmail flight from Allahabad to Naini

Specifications

Reg #
PC-0020
Date
2025
Total Views 12
Historical Significance

On 18 February 1911, French pilot Henri Pequet carried approximately 6,500 pieces of mail on a Humber biplane from Allahabad to Naini — a distance of about 5 miles across the Yamuna River — in just 13 minutes. This flight, organised during the United Provinces Exhibition in Allahabad, is recognised as the world's first official airmail service by airplane, making India the birthplace of global airmail. All mail from that flight received a special cancel reading "First Aerial Post, 1911, U.P. Exhibition Allahabad." India Post observed this milestone by releasing a commemorative Picture Postcard through Karnataka Postal Circle on World Airmail Day (18 February 2025) to mark 114 years of this historic event.

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