During World War II, the airfield was called RAF Mingaladon and served as an operating base for fighter aircraft such as: No. 60 Squadron RAF from February 1941 to February 1942 flying Bristol Blenheim I No. 67 Squadron RAF from October 1941 to March 1942 flying Brewster Buffalo and Hawker Hurricane IIs No. 135 Squadron RAF from January–February 1942 flying Hawker Hurricane IIs No. 681 Squadron RAF from June to September 1945 flying Supermarine Spitfire 3rd Squadron of 1st American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) of the Chinese Air Force flying Curtiss P-40s Additional units based there were: Air Headquarters Burma Communication Squadron RAF Air Headquarters Burma Communication Flight RAF Air Headquarters Netherlands East Indies Communication Squadron RAF No. 221 Group Communication Squadron RAF There was also a Communication Flight of the Burma Volunteer Air Force equipped with de Havilland Tiger Moths and Westland Lysanders and anti-aircraft support for the airfield was provided by members of the 12th Burma Rifles. During the Second World War, in 1941 the Japanese began their attack on Burma, including an air raid on Mingaladon. By 1942, the outnumbered Allied forces had retreated and the Japanese took over the airfield. Mingaladon was then used by the Japanese, and Japanese bombers based in Bangkok were moved forward to Mingaladon when there was a full moon. The British at the Wireless Experimental Centre in Delhi had decrypted BULBUL, the IJA air-to-ground code, and could predict Japanese air raids. On one occasion Allied nightfighters "got the lot and all night we could hear Mingaladon air base calling for its lost children". After World War II, Yangon Airport was built on the site of the former RAF Mingaladon in 1947 by the Calcutta Metropolitan Airports Authority. Once regarded as the best in Southeast Asia and the primary airport serving that region, the airport fell into disrepair and remained that way for decades, as new super hubs like Singapore Changi Airport, Kuala Lumpur Sepang, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta were built and superseded Yangon's facilities. In November 2012, Condor began flying seasonally to Frankfurt with Boeing 767s. The outbound flight from Yangon made a stop in Phuket, but the inbound one was direct. The airline cut the route at the end of the first season. Airport capacity was boosted to 6 million passengers per year in early 2016. Currently, there are plans to build a new, larger airport, Hanthawaddy International Airport, on a much larger site and somewhat away from Yangon.