Construction of the airport began in 1936. It was opened in 1938, with its first landing on January 11, by Captain Douglas Fraser flying a Fox Moth of Imperial Airways. Within a few years it had four runways and was the largest airport in the world. Its official name until 1949 was "Newfoundland Airport". In 1940, the operation of the Newfoundland Airport was assigned by the Dominion of Newfoundland to the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF). In 1941, it was renamed "RCAF Station Gander". The airfield was heavily used by RAF Ferry Command and Air Transport Command for transporting newly built aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean to the European Theatre, and for staging operational anti-submarine patrols dedicated to hunting U-boats in the northwest Atlantic. Thousands of aircraft flown by the United States Army Air Corps through the changeover to the United States Army Air Forces and by the RCAF destined for the European Theatre travelled through Gander. The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) also established Naval Radio Station Gander at the airfield, using the station as a listening post to detect the transmissions and location of enemy submarines and warships. In March 1946, the RCAF handed operation of the airfield back to the Dominion of Newfoundland government. The RCN's radio station remained and the military role for the entire facility was upgraded through the Cold War. In 1949, the Canadian federal government changed the name to "Gander Airport" after Newfoundland joined Canada. It opened the current passenger terminal in 1959. On 16 September 1945, the first transatlantic proving flight, a Pan Am DC-4, departed Gander for Shannon in western Ireland. On 24 October 1945, the first scheduled commercial flight, an American Overseas Airlines DC-4, passed through Gander. Following Newfoundland's entry into Confederation, the government renamed the airport "Gander International Airport", and it came under the administration of Canada's federal Department of Transport. Numerous improvements were made to the runways and terminals. Gander is near the great circle route between eastern North America and Europe. Starting in the 1940s it was a refueling stop for transatlantic flights and continued in this role to the early 1960s and in some cases into the 1990s. Carriers at Gander during this era included: Aeroflot operated Ilyushin Il-86 widebody flights during the 1980s and early 1990s between Moscow and such long-range destinations as New York and Havana. Due to the IL-86's limited range of approximately 2,000 mi (3,200 km), the flights made refueling stops at both Shannon and Gander en route to the final destination. The Boeing 747-200s of the same era had typical ranges from 5,000–6,000 mi (8,000–9,700 km) and were much more sought after by international airlines. The IL-86 was used almost exclusively by Aeroflot and successor post-Soviet airlines. Air France ran several services through Gander, connecting Paris and Shannon to Montreal, Boston, and New York in the 1950s. American Overseas Airlines used Gander as a stop for Lockheed Constellation flights between New York and London from 1947. British Overseas Airways Corporation operated Constellations on London-Shannon-Gander-New York, London-Glasgow-Gander-New York, and London-Glasgow-Gander-Montreal routings from 1947. By 1960, the Gander stop was only used as an alternative to a Glasgow or Shannon stop for Bristol Britannia service to Montreal and Toronto. Interflug flights between East Germany and Cuba would stop to refuel in Gander, until the airline began using Airbus A310s in 1989. KLM used Gander as a stop on Amsterdam-Glasgow-Gander-New York service from 1946. Pan American World Airways used Gander as a stop for transatlantic Douglas DC-4 service between New York-Idlewild and Shannon (continuing to London and Lisbon) starting in 1946.