PART TWO: KARACHI to SINGAPORE

Arrival into Karachi is early Sunday morning, so we're now beginning the tenth day of travel since departing London. By comparison the 1939 Imperial flying-boat service took just four days to get to Karachi. Then again, there was no enroute change of aircraft or airline on that schedule.

From Karachi the original 1939 schedule continued on across India with stops in Raj Samand, Gwalior and Allahabad. Per the 1969 OAG there are no scheduled flights into Raj Samand, but there is service into Udaipur, just 40 miles to the south. Unfortunately there is no service eastward from UDR, and the two flights from Bombay into Gwalior do not fly anywhere close to the 1939 Imperial Airways routing. However, it does appear that one could cobble together a few flights with state-owned Indian Airlines along a route that geographically at least would not be too far off the original 1939 routing. So it looks like the best thing to do is get down to Bombay and commence your air tour across India from there.

Consulting the OAG, the sight of Swissair’s Convair 990 “Coronado” departing Karachi for Bombay at 0730 is cause for a considerable spike in blood pressure. Oh no! It’s a Tuesday only service and today is Sunday. Hmm… what’s this? An Air Ceylon Trident is departing Karachi at 0830, just three hours after your arrival from Dubai. Book it, Danno! In First Class, please.

From Bombay Indian Airlines has a conveniently timed daily service up to Jaipur with stops in Ahmedabad and Udaipur (close to Raj Samand). The same plane continues under a different flight number on up to Delhi. There you can overnight and then catch an early morning four stop Fokker into Calcutta with stops in Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna and Ranchi. There is a similarly timed two-stop Viscount service as well as a nonstop Caravelle from Delhi into Calcutta but you really want to route through Allahabad as the 1939 schedule did, so you’ll spend your morning on the Fokker. The breakfast served enroute consists of Aloo Paratha (Basically unleavened dough stuffed with a spiced mixture of mashed potato with butter and/or chutney) and coffee.

Arriving in Calcutta early Monday afternoon, you procure an air-conditioned hotel room in the city before heading out to the fabulous Kali Temple. Tonight’s dinner will provide a delicious introduction to Bengali cuisine with a main course of Kacchi Biriani.

Although in 1939 the flying-boat continued from Calcutta down the coast to Akyab and on to Rangoon, the 1969 schedules require one to fly first down to Rangoon and then up to Akyab. Since you'd have to spend the night in Akyab and you’ve got to fly through Rangoon anyway, it is decided to skip Akyab. Pan American offers an early morning (0655) nonstop from Calcutta to Rangoon, with continuing service on to Bangkok. You were hoping to take the Burma Airways Viscount down to Rangoon at 1000 but unfortunately there are no later flights from there onward to Bangkok. In fact, you’d have to stay in Rangoon until Thursday – two days later – before a Thai International DC-9-41 could get you down to Bangkok. Looks like it’s time to book a First Class seat aboard The World’s Most Experienced Airline.



Pan American 707
The World's Most Experienced Airline

Despite your late morning arrival into Bangkok, there are no connecting flights down to Penang until the next day. Oh well. There are certainly worse places to layover. You book yourself a room at Bangkok’s landmark Oriental Hotel, then head out for a canal tour of Bangkok before ending the day with a deliciously spicy bowl of Tom Kha Gai soup in the hotel's excellent dining room.

Your 1120 departure down to Penang the next morning allows you to take full advantage of the Oriental’s comfortable mattress on your extra large bed. Your flight down to Penang will be aboard MSA (Malaysia Singapore Airlines) utilizing a 737-112. MSA is the first Asian operator of the 737 and this will be your first flight aboard the slightly smaller -100 variant of the plane. After a 45 minute layover at Penang, your aircraft continues on down to Singapore. Luncheon will be served in the forward cabin.

A limousine will deliver you to your suite at the Raffles. After a shower and a short nap, you greet the evening with a visit to the Long Bar followed by...?



Raffles Hotel ~ The Long Bar
Home of the Singapore Sling


Day Ten ~ Sunday

Air Ceylon (AE) 322: Karachi (KHI) to Bombay (BOM)
Dep. KHI 0830, Arr. BOM 1035 – Nonstop service
Equipment: Hawker Siddeley Trident 1E

Indian Airlines (IC) 126: Bombay (BOM) to Jaipur (JAI)
Dep. BOM 1300, Arr. JAI 1715 – Direct service via Ahmedabad and Udaipur
Equipment: Fokker F.27

Indian Airlines (IC) 482: Jaipur (JAI) to Delhi (PLV)
Dep. JAI 1800, Arr. AGR 2005 – Direct service via Agra
Equipment: Fokker F.27

Day Eleven ~ Monday

Indian Airlines (IC) 411: Delhi (PLV) to Calcutta (CCU)
Dep. PLV 0615, Arr. CCU 1315 – Direct service via Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna and Ranchi
Equipment: Fokker F.27

Day Twelve ~ Tuesday

Pan American (PA) 002: Calcutta (CCU) to Bangkok (BKK)
Dep. CCU 0655, Arr. BKK 1130 – Direct service via Rangoon
Equipment: Boeing 707-320

Day Thirteen ~ Wednesday

Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (MS) 521: Bangkok (BKK) to Singapore (SIN)
Dep. BKK 1120, Arr. SIN 1455 – Direct service via Penang
Equipment: Boeing 737-100