Asia is the largest continent, stretching from the Urals and the Red Sea across to eastern China, Japan, the Philippines and Singapore. Of that, two countries in this book, Russia and Turkey, have been dealt with in Chapter 3; the Russian capital is in Europe, whilst Turkey’s capital Istanbul where the Bosphorus separates Europe from Asia Minor, a peninsula also called Anatolia, comprises most of the Asian part of modern Turkey and the Armenian highland, so that leaves this chapter slightly short, but nevertheless …
Saudi Arabia has its western shore alongside the Red Sea that separates Africa from Asia. It is a desert country encompassing most of the Arabian Peninsula and known as the birthplace of Islam and home to the religion’s two most sacred mosques: Masjid al-Haram, in Mecca, destination of the annual Hajj pilgrimage; and Medina’s Masjid an-Nabawi, burial site of the prophet Muhammad. Riyadh, the capital, is a skyscraper-filled metropolis.
It is the world’s second largest producer of petroleum and is a Unitary Islamic totalitarian absolute monarchy retaining a very insular attitude, hence commercial aviation has never been a major priority. Things are changing slowly and this pane of four stamps from 2004 illustrates some of the modern jets in use at the time.
Pakistan. As a result of the Partition of India in 1947, the largely Muslim-populated areas became Pakistan whilst the mainly Hindu-populated areas remained in India. That meant that the Muslim community was spilt in two, in the north-west was West Pakistan whilst to the north-east of the Indian Sub-continent it was East Pakistan, although in 1971 this area separated to become Bangladesh.
Pakistan has since flourished as a nation and its own airline PIA was established in 1955 as an amalgam of several smaller carriers, and today serves domestic and international destinations world-wide including being the first non-communist carrier to serve China in 1964.
This single stamp from 1980 celebrates the 25th Anniversary of PIA and as well as the DC-3 then used on domestic services, shows a Boeing 747-200 ‘Jumbo-Jet’ of which the country and airline were immensely proud. It wasn’t all plain-sailing and the airline found great difficulties maintaining these and later 747-300 aircraft and has now replaced them all with new-build Boeing 777s twin-jets.
Continued tensions in the area have meant that defence issues have always been to the fore and this next stamp was issued on the 75th Anniversary of the No.6 Air Transport Support Squadron, Pakistan Air Force, and therein lies an enigma.
The country wasn’t established until 1947 and it took a lot of digging to establish that the squadron was originally part of the Indian Air Force, much revered, then as now. It was established in 1942 at Trichinopoly and equipped with Hawker Hurricane FR. IIb aircraft. On 15 February 1944, Flying Officer J.C. Verma of the Squadron shot down a Japanese fighter during a low-level dogfight, making him the first Indian pilot since the First World War with a confirmed victory in air combat while flying for the Indian Air Force, and was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross. One aircraft that rarely finds itself the subject of aviation stamps is the blunt-nosed Bristol B.170 Mk.31 Freighter, surely not the most beautiful or charismatic of aircraft but obviously sufficiently rated to deserve a place here.
India is a vast South Asian country with diverse terrain – from Himalayan peaks to Indian Ocean coastline – and history reaching back five millennia. In the north, Mughal Empire landmarks include Delhi’s Red Fort complex and massive Jama Masjid mosque, plus Agra’s iconic Taj Mahal mausoleum. Pilgrims bathe in the Ganges in Varanasi, and Rishikesh is a yoga centre and base for Himalayan trekking.
Aviation was slow to start and it was to be 1932 before Tata Airlines was formed and was later to become Air India.
In this stamp we see that first aircraft – a de Havilland DH.80 Puss Moth – with its pilot and founder, Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (1904-93), a French-born Indian aviator, entrepreneur, chairman of Tata Group and the shareholder of Tata Sons. Researchers should be aware! Obviously held in high esteem, this little aircraft first appeared on another stamp in 1979. Whilst in Britain registration marks remain unique and never used again, in India that is not the case and this particular one has since been used again at least one, for an ATR 42 turbo-prop commuter aircraft.
Air India’s first flight to the UK was operated by Lockheed Constellations in 1948 and this very traditional monochrome stamp issued that year reminds us of how a great many of the world’s stamps appeared in that era.
By contrast, this 2005 image celebrates another squadron’s anniversary much as we saw under the Pakistani heading, and here we see interesting illustrations of three noteworthy aircraft: from the ’60s – a SEPECAT (Société Européenne de Production de l’avion Ecole de Combat et d’Appui Tactique) Jaguar Attack Aircraft, a joint venture between Breguet in France and the British Aircraft Corporation, and still in use in India: from the ’40s and ’50s an English Electric Canberra light bomber and from the Second World War era a Consolidated B-24 Liberator 4-engined heavy bomber.
Coming forward to 2012, this interesting view reminds us that India today retains strong trading ties with Russia and thus buys their aircraft from the east as well as from the West. Shown here is an Ilyushin IL-76MD, an Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft more readily known in the west by the acronym AWACS. The IL-76 is a 4-engined freighter first-flown in 1971 and apparently still in production in up-graded form with almost 1,000 produced – so far.
China is separated from India to the south by the Himalayan Mountain Range, a formidable obstacle to both trade and confrontation until aviation developed sufficiently to get across the colossal heights. From being one of the world’s earliest civilizations, China has grown to be the world’s most populous country, with a population of around 1.4 billion in 2017 and a land area of close to 10 million square kilometres, behind Russia and Canada. Before the economic reforms in 1978, China had been an extremely insular nation and aviation was not a significant priority, Commercial aviation was minimalist and undertaken by the state run CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) whilst its military flying was undertaken by PLAAF (The People’s Liberation Army Air Force), a branch of the People’s Liberation Army, the armed forces of the People’s Republic of China. The PLAAF was officially established on 11 November 1949 with a rudimentary fleet that today has grown to around 400,000 personnel and is the largest air force in Asia.
Deng Xiaoping took power in 1978 and instituted significant economic reforms. The Communist Party loosened governmental control over citizens’ personal lives, and the communes were gradually disbanded. This marked China’s transition from a planned economy to a mixed economy with an increasingly open-market environment. Since then of course the nation and its economy has flourished and what was the issue of infrequent stamps on aviation subjects is now beginning to produce some very attractive work.
My research (with no knowledge of the Chinese language) shows that the stamp shown, of 2003, is believed to be a Chengdu J9 fighter aircraft of 1975.
Then there are the unmistakable images of Concorde and the Chengdu J10, a multi-role medium-weight fighter.
The Changhe Z-8 is a Chinese copy of the Aerospatiale (formerly Sud Aviation) SA 321 Super Frelon.
The next is a Xian JH-7, the Flying Leopard, and finally comes the Comac C919, a narrow-body twinjet airliner developed by Chinese aerospace manufacturer Comac. The programme was launched in 2008 and production of the prototype began in December 2011. It rolled out on 2 November 2015 and first flew on 5 May 2017. The C919 is planned to enter commercial service in 2021 with China Eastern Airlines. A final note regarding these designations that are national markings rather than those of the manufacturer; J signifies a fighter aircraft; Z a helicopter; JH a fighter-bomber; and C commercial aircraft.
Hong Kong is an autonomous territory, and former British colony, in south-eastern China. Its vibrant, densely populated urban centre is a major port and global financial hub with a skyscraper-studded skyline. The territory was returned to China when the lease expired in 1997.
Apart from flights to and from the Territory, Hong Kong developed as a very busy hub in global aviation, the more so before modern aircraft were able to fly non-stop for almost 10,000miles!
This beautiful 1984 set shows us some of Hong Kong’s aviation history and apart from the eponymous Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’ treats us to images of the Sikorsky S-42B flying boat of Pan Am and a de Havilland DH-86 Dragon Express (a four-engined and enlarged version of the DH-84 Dragon and predecessor of the better known DH-86 Dragon Rapide) of Imperial Airways. We also have a 1891 balloon marked Baldwin Brothers who were early aviators in the US but I can find no references of their adventures in Hong Kong!
Korea is a peninsular to the east of the Chinese mainland that has been fought-over for millennia and today is unhappily split in two since the pro- and anti- staggered to a stalemate in 1953 but without a formalized peace treaty and ever since then an uneasy cease-fire has created greater peace than the area has ever known with the southern section, south of the 38th Parallel known as South Korea that prospers under the bountiful shadow of the US. To the north, the DPRK or Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in total contrast lives under the Communist ideology of its neighbour and friend China. As I write this a faint glimmer of hope for rapprochement is in the air, so there is hope.
Many stamps have been issued by the DPRK including these fine examples issued in 1978 and 1987 that are, should one say a little fanciful; however, the illustration of a Tupolev TU-154 in the colours of Air Koryo reminds us that in the twenty-first century the airline is still believed to be operating the type as well as Illyushin IL-62M 4-engined jet and various other, smaller Soviet types.
Indo China is a geographical term originating in the early nineteenth century and referring to the continental portion of the region now known as Southeast Asia. The name refers to the lands historically within the cultural influence of India and China, and physically bound by the Indian Subcontinent in the west and China in the north. It corresponds to the present-day areas of Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam. The term was later adopted as the name of the colony of French Indochina (today’s Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos), and these stamps come from this era.
Vietnam has been fought over for more than a millennium; the final protagonists were the French and finally the Americans that supported the southern part of the country against the Communist Viet-Cong from the north. I have found these stamps issued by the north in this conflict to be almost unique in celebrating various victories over their hated southern neighbours and their supporters – the USA.
The Communist armies eventually overran the south in 1975 to re-unify the country and in 1986 the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) initiated a series of economic and political reforms that began Vietnam’s path toward integration into the world economy.
Today, under a stable administration Vietnam has blossomed into a beautiful country beloved of tourists who also talk of hugely friendly people and wonderful food.
Cambodia is another beautiful country sadly racked by conflict over the centuries and its name has varied depending upon influences internal and external, hence the stamps we see here bear the name ‘Cambodge’ reflecting the French influences whilst ‘Kampuchea’ came into use from 1975-79 when the country was under the control of the Khmer Rouge an ultra-Communist ideology. Although the official language of Cambodia is Khmer, postage stamps continued to bear the title Cambodge until well into the twenty-first century.
There have been many stamps issued by Cambodia illustrating transport subjects and I have chosen examples from two sets, the first from 1992 titled hydravions to maintain the French influence, flying boats or sea-planes in the English speaking world.
From a 1996 issue we see some rather finely detailed illustrations of earlier aircraft including a Pitcairn PS-5 Mailwing of 1926 and a Stearman C-3MB of 1927, both manufacturers being long defunct pioneers from the USA.
Thailand is known for tropical beaches, opulent royal palaces, ancient ruins and ornate temples displaying figures of Buddha. Bangkok is the capital, rather better known for cityscapes like the world-over – skyscrapers. Thankfully the country, until 1932 known as Siam, has avoided the colonisation and extreme bloodletting of many of its neighbours although internal politics have sometimes seemed a bit excitable!
This pane was issued in 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Thai International Airlines and illustrates some of the history of this relatively young airline formed in 1960 with the help of the Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS). The first aircraft shown, a Douglas DC-6, clearly shows its origins with the Viking motif of SAS whilst later stamps give an impression of the beautiful artistry that forms a significant part of the nation’s heritage.
Malasia is south of the Indo-China region and in the Malay Peninsular consisting of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo). Its history has been a complicated one including British rule and only in 1963 was Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore to become Malaysia although Singapore subsequently seceded to go its own way.
The three stamps were issued in 1997 to mark fifty years of aviation in the country showing with pride the elegant Boeing 747 ‘Jumbo Jet’ to which at the time every international airline aspired. Interestingly we also see the tail of a short-lived Malaysia Singapore Airlines jet.
In 2007 this little set illustrates some aircraft less-frequently seen on stamps but used for short-distance and internal use: The Shorts SC.7 Skyvan produced in Northern Islands, the GAF 22 Nomad from Australia and the de Havilland Canada DHC7 4-engined turboprop aircraft famed for its extremely short take-off and landing capabilities.
Singapore was founded by Stamford Raffles in 1819 as a trading post of the British East India Company. After the company’s collapse in 1858, the islands were ceded to the British Raj as a crown colony. During the Second World War, Singapore was occupied by Japan. It gained independence from the UK in 1963 by federating with other former British territories to form Malaysia, but separated two years later over ideological differences, becoming a sovereign nation in 1965. After early years of turbulence and despite lacking natural resources and a hinterland, the nation developed rapidly as an Asian Tiger economy.
When, in 2003, Singapore issued a set of 20 stamps to mark the centenary of powered flight, they were also produced as a mini-sheet (sic) that I find impossible to ignore. Although extremely attractive stamps, the set oddly omits anything but products of the modern era!
The country’s national airline Singapore Airlines has consistently been cited as one of, if not the world’s favourite airline for the quality of its service and had the privilege of operating the world’s first commercial flight of the Airbus 380 airliner. Unlike the Boeing 747 that quickly gained the nickname ‘Jumbo Jet’, the A380 has never had such a moniker, sometimes being referred to as the ‘super-jumbo’ or ‘whale’ to emphasise its almost unimaginable size. Here we see a special cover issued to mark the occasion with a stamp.
