On 18 February 1911, domestic commercial aviation began in India when Henri Piquet flew a Humber biplane carrying mail from a polo field at Allahabad (now Prayagraj) to Naini, approximately six miles away. The construction of an airport at Allahabad with a dedicated airfield was started in 1924. In 1931, the aerodrome at Allahabad was set up and the foundation for air traffic control services was laid with the appointment of an Indian Aerodrome Officer, specially trained at the airport in the UK. It was among the first four international airports of the country. It catered to international flights with direct services to London until 1932. In July 1933, Imperial Airways commenced the operation of its flight on the Karachi-Jodhpur-Delhi-Kanpur-Allahabad-Kolkata route, which ran until June 1940. The airfield at Bamrauli was also used as one of the five compulsory stops of the MacRobertson Trophy Air Race which took place in October 1934. From 1941 to the early 2000s, the airport did not cater to any regular commercial flight services. In the early months of 2003, Air Sahara became the first carrier to re-introduce services at the airport with connectivity to cities like Delhi and Kolkata. However, services soon became defunct following an economic crisis. In 2005, Alliance Air (a regional connectivity subsidiary under Air India) started its Allahabad-Delhi flight service on the ATR-72 fleet, which continues to be operational to this day, with minor non-operational periods in between. In 2013, SpiceJet introduced its operation in the Delhi-Allahabad sector, along with Alliance Air commencing its Allahabad-Mumbai flight, both of which were closed down due to non-availability of ILS and night landing facilities at the airport after running for a few months. Seeking limited operational and structural facilities, construction of a new civilian terminal and installation of an ILS system on the existing runway began in January 2018. The newly constructed terminal was opened to the public in January 2019 and has since served regular flight operations at Prayagraj. Prayagraj Airport has been included in India's UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik) regional connectivity scheme to enhance low-cost air travel. Several unserved and underserved routes from Prayagraj, including to regional cities in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and Jharkhand, are proposed or under consideration. Planned International Flights: While currently operating only domestic services, there have been ongoing discussions to develop the airport’s capabilities for international operations, especially to Gulf countries and Southeast Asia, targeting the large diaspora from Eastern Uttar Pradesh.