As a part of the defence of Mauritius, in 1942, when Mauritius was a Crown colony, the government started constructing a Royal Naval Air Station at Plaisance near Mahébourg. This was subsequently handed over to the Royal Air Force at the end of World War II, and civilian operations started shortly afterwards. The operations of the civil airport started just after the Second World War, which gave a boost to the Mauritian economy. In 1960, an electric refitting was completed at Plaisance Airfield, including airfield lighting and telecommunications equipment. A contract was also placed to rebuild the runway. The first flight to Rodrigues island was made on 10 September 1972, an Air Mauritius flight from Plaisance Airport to the Plaine Corail Airport at Rodrigues using a Twin Otter (3B-NAB). Later, the Twin Otters were replaced by ATR 42-300 and ATR 42-500 twin turboprops. Later in 1986, infrastructure works were undertaken to accommodate larger aircraft. Thus, a new terminal was built, including airbridges to meet the expected increase in traffic growth, and a car park attached to the new building and customs service for international routes. The new terminal consisted of two floors and could simultaneously accommodate up to four aircraft via airbridges.