Construction commenced in Ringway parish on 28 November 1935 and the airport was partly operational by June 1937, with full construction completed on 25 June 1938. On 27 June 1938, KLM became the first airline to launch scheduled commercial flights to Manchester. During the Second World War, RAF Ringway was important in military aircraft production and training parachutists. After the war, the base reverted to a civilian airport and gradually expanded to its present size. By the 1960s, Manchester was Britain's second-busiest airport (after Heathrow). In 1946, Air France began operations from Manchester following the commencement of peacetime passenger services from the airport, and remains the airport's longest continuous operator, celebrating 75 years of service in 2021. In 1953, Manchester began 24-hour operation, with the ability to handle flights during the day and night, which helped the airport handle 163,000 passengers. 1953 also saw the start of intercontinental flights by Sabena Belgian to New York, followed closely by the launch of services to New York by BOAC. The former RAF buildings were replaced by a new purpose-built passenger terminal, which opened in 1962. The new terminal featured a modern departures hall with large Venetian glass chandeliers and the first covered airport passenger piers in Europe. The first transatlantic flights to originate at Manchester began in 1963. The thrice-weekly service was operated by BOAC using a Boeing 707 via Glasgow Prestwick. In 1969, the runway was extended to 2,745 metres (9,006 ft), allowing aircraft to take off with a full payload and to fly non-stop to Canada. In 1971, the airport reached a milestone of handling over 2 million passengers in one year. The following year saw the opening of a link road connecting the airport to the M56 Motorway, improving road access from Manchester, Cheshire and North Wales. In 1975, Ringway was officially renamed Manchester International Airport. The airport saw rapid growth and expansion during the 1980s and 1990s, shaping the airport for the coming decades. Many of the developments made during this period remain in place or have only recently been altered following the introduction of the Manchester Transformation Project. Passenger numbers continued to grow, reaching the milestone of handling one million passengers a month for the first time in 1987. This growth boosted expansion plans, including planning for a new terminal. The following year in 1988, Manchester celebrated its golden jubilee. Terminal A, which now forms part of Terminal 3, was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1989. In 1993, Terminal 2 was officially opened by the Duke of Edinburgh along with the official opening of Manchester Airport station. The main passenger terminal was redesignate Terminal 1. From 1997 to 2001, a second runway was constructed, causing large-scale protests in Cheshire, especially in the village of Styal where natural habitats were disturbed and listed buildings demolished to make space for construction. During the early 2000s, British Airways scaled down operations from Manchester Airport with the sale of their BA Connect subsidiary to Flybe and the ending of their franchise agreement with GB Airways, a business subsequently sold to easyJet. In October 2008, the daily New York–JFK service was terminated and in March 2013 the daily to London–Gatwick was ended, although the service has resumed in recent years. After taking over BA Connect's select routes, Flybe went on to add several more destinations. In 2012, Flybe introduced the "mini hub" concept co-ordinating the arrival and departure times of various domestic services throughout the day and thereby creating combinations such as Norwich–Manchester–Belfast, Glasgow–Manchester–Southampton and Edinburgh–Manchester–Exeter with conveniently short transfer times.