The airport opened in 1937, while international operations began on 26 January 1991. It was categorised as an international airport on 23 May 2000. In March 2004, Air India commenced service to London's Heathrow Airport with a Boeing 747. The flight catered to the large Gujarati community in the United Kingdom. The carrier ended the service in October 2008. The following June, Air India began a route to Frankfurt using 747s. The link lasted until November 2010. The new Terminal 2 was inaugurated for handling international passengers in 2010. A 5.5-metre-tall (18 ft) statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was also inaugurated at the airport. In August 2016, Air India reinstated direct service to London-Heathrow aboard a Boeing 787. Of the four weekly flights, three continued on to Newark. In March 2017, a 700 kWp rooftop solar plant was commissioned at the airport. Air India stopped operating the London–Newark service in November 2018. In November 2018, the Central Government cleared a proposal by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for leasing out six of its airports, including Ahmedabad. The following month, AAI commenced an international competitive bidding process to award Operations, Management and Development (OMD) contracts for the six airports. Seven companies participated in the bidding process for Ahmedabad airport. These included Adani Enterprises Limited, Sydney, Australia-based AMP Capital Investors (UK) Limited, Autostrade, GMR Airports Limited, I Investments Ltd, PNC Infrastructure Ltd and Sanna Enterprises. The bidding process that was won by the Adani Group. Subsequent to the selection of Adani Enterprises Limited (AEL) as the selected bidder, AEL promoted and incorporated the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) – Ahmedabad International Airport Limited (AIAL), as the concessionaire under the Companies Act, 2013 in accordance with the terms of the RFP. AIAL signed the Concession Agreement with AAI for exclusive right to operate, manage and develop Ahmedabad Airport on 14 February 2020.