India: 1945 Christmas Greetings Air letter

This is the quite scarce air letter India AL2a, according to the Lang & Saunders catalogue, with a colorful imprint with Christmas greetings and wishes for a Victorious New Year 1946 on the writing panel.

Before the decisions of the 1952 Brussels UPU congress came into effect on July 1, 1953, air letters were accepted in international mail only if a bilateral agreement of the involved postal authorities with respect to air letters was in place.

This air letter was sent from ALLEPEY (16 DEC 45) to Silkborg, Denmark. As no bilateral agreement was in place at that time, the air letter got the 3-line handstamp " AIR MAIL LETTER CARD SERVICE / NOT AVAILABLE FORWARDED / BY SURFACE ROUTE" and was diverted to surface mail.

Air letter services between India and Denmark started on September 1, 1950.


Reference:
Lang, D. & Sauners, R. (1984), A guide to the postal stationery of India. Vol 4: Aerogrammes & Inland Letter Cards