Maneck Ardheshir Dalal, OBE and Regional Director, Air India (AI), UK for several years, who was handpicked by JRD Tata himself to initiate operations in London for AI, passed away in London on 6th March, 2017, at the age of 98. Born in Bombay, he was known to many as a thorough gentleman with great achievements. During his illustrious career he held numerous directorships in industry and voluntary sectors.

Maneck Dalal had been an undergraduate at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he had an agreeable time captaining the university at tennis and squash. He was formally appointed Air-India’s regional director (UK) in 1959 and held the job until 1977. After retiring from Air-India, he was managing director for the Tata group of companies in the UK from 1977-1988. Among his many public duties, he chaired the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (Indian Cultural Centre) in London for 40 years until 2011.

His death was announced by Malcolm Deboo, president of the Zoroastrian Trust Funds of Europe where Dalal was a trustee from 1980-88. He is survived by his wife, his daughters Suzy and Caroline.