A commemorative postage stamp on the 50 Years of Pakistani Air Mail Service :

Issued by Pakistan

Issued on Feb 15, 1981

Issued for : To commemorate the 50 years of Airmail service, Pakistan Post Office is issuing one postage stamp of Re. 1/- denomination on the 15^th February, 1981.

Designer : Jabeen Sultana

Type : Stamp, Postal Used

Denomination : Re. 1/-

Colours : Ultramarine blue, green, red and deep yellow

Size of Stamp : 30.70 x 49.20 mm

Size of Print : 27.70 x 46.20 mm

Perforation : 13 C

Quantity : 5,00,000

No. of stamps in one sheet : 60 (Sixty)

Process of Printing : Litho Offset

Printers : The Pakistan Security Printing Corporation Karachi

About : 

• After the World War I (1914-18) significant developments took place in the field of civil aviation. The Post played a prominent part in its progress as the freight charges paid by the Post to the airlines were in those days their major source of income. These payments are even today among the main sources of revenue for both small and big air companies. Rapid development in air transport continued at a greater pace after the World War II (1939-45). Bigger, stronger and even faster aircrafts were developed and put into service. The greatly increased capacity of modern wide-bodied aircrafts has been utilized for the conveyance of air mail on a much larger scale.
• The Hague Conference (1927) of the Universal Postal Union proposed the first airmail provisions, which were finalised at the London Congress of 1929. The regulations formulated at this Congress were put into effect in 1930.
• In the Indo-Pak sub-continent mails were occasionally carried in aircrafts between 1919 and 1928. A significant event of this period was an experiment in 1920 of flying mail between Karachi and Bombay. Several flights were operated from each end, from 23^rd January to 11^th March. In the 12 flights which were successful, about 3000 articles were carried. A number of R.A.F. aircraft flights in 1925 were instrumental in carrying mails between Risalpur – Calcutta – Quetta – Hindubagh (now Muslimbagh) and Quetta – Simla. In 1926, a flight carried letters from Karachi to Risalpur. Yet another, carried letters from Karachi to Delhi in 1927.
• However, it was in 1929 that a regular airmail service between the pre-independence India and England was established. In the same year, inland airmail service was established between Karachi and Delhi and in 1933 Karachi was connected with Calcutta.
• With the progress of civil aviation after independence, Pakistan Post Office made full use of the air services and utilised all the available services for conveyance of air mail. In 1959 “All-Up Airmail Scheme” was introduced under which all letters were given airlift between stations on the air network if this ensured speedier delivery. Later, in 1968 post cards were also included in this scheme. A prominent feature of this scheme was that no air surcharge was levied for the air lift. In 1972 Pakistan Post Office went a step further and all letter mail articles were given airlift. The aim is speedier transmission and delivery of mails and to avoid their accumulation. Other classes of mail (printed papers, registered letters and parcels etc.) are also conveyed by air if air surcharge is prepaid on them.
• Today Pakistan maintains airmail communication with almost all the countries of the world by means of direct mail exchanges or through intermediary countries.
• Issued by: The Director General, Pakistan Post Office, Islamabad.

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